20 July 2026
Scam/fraud in Edo
OpenWatch has recorded 80 reported scam/fraud incidents in Edo State, 13 of them in the last 12 months. That is 7% of every incident recorded in the state, and ranks it 4 of 24 among the states where scam/fraud is reported often enough to profile.
Incidents · 12 mo
13
Fatalities · 12 mo
0
Incidents · all-time
80
Fatalities · all-time
1
Latest reported scam/fraud in Edo
23 June 2026 · Owan West
Two suspects were arrested by Edo State Police on June 26, 2026 for staging a fake kidnapping on June 23, 2026, in which one suspect placed calls to the other's relatives falsely claiming he had been abducted and demanding N4 million ransom. Both suspects confessed to their roles in the scheme and are to be charged to court.
9 June 2026 · Ikpoba-Okha
A woman in Edo State was arrested for faking her own kidnapping to extort money from her family, claiming financial pressure led her to stage the incident. She and her accomplices used props, including a gun and cutlass, to make the ruse convincing.
1 June 2026 · Ukwuani
A woman in Edo State staged her own kidnapping to defraud her family of ₦50 million, leading to her arrest along with three accomplices. The police uncovered the scheme after a thorough investigation and recovered a firearm used in the fake kidnapping videos.
19 May 2026
A man was arrested in Benin City for allegedly scamming traders through fake bank transfer notifications. He reportedly used a doctored banking application to deceive victims into giving him goods without making actual payments.
23 April 2026 · Owan East
An individual was arrested for operating an illegal orphanage and running an adoption scam in Edo State, where a victim reported being defrauded of ₦2 million. Investigations revealed fraudulent documents were used in the adoption process.
20 April 2026
A man was convicted for recruiting minors into an internet fraud training network in Benin City, Edo State. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for conspiracy to commit cyber fraud.
10 April 2026
Five police officers in Edo State were dismissed for their involvement in a criminal syndicate that harassed, abducted, and extorted money from residents in Benin City. The syndicate reportedly used police uniforms to deceive victims and force them to withdraw money at Point of Sale (POS) operators.
6 April 2026 · Orhionmwon
NDLEA operatives arrested a suspected drug trafficker in Iganke community, Edo State, and seized 1,378 kilograms of cannabis during a raid on an illicit warehouse.
5 April 2026
A football agent was arrested for allegedly defrauding a young Nigerian footballer of ₦11 million by promising overseas trial opportunities that never materialized. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating the case further.
Other threats in Edo
About these figures
Counts cover incidents classified as scam/fraud in Edo State, drawn from OpenWatch’s incident record, excluding retracted reports and duplicates merged into an earlier report. Figures update hourly. Last recorded: 20 July 2026.
Reported numbers are a floor, not a census. Incidents in remote areas are routinely under-reported, and classification follows how an event was described in reporting, so a low count is not a guarantee of safety. See the full Edo risk profile for every threat type, or the methodology for how incidents are collected and classified.
Track Edo live on the incident map.