Yahoo Yahoo: Nigerian athlete faces 20 years imprisonment for cyber fraud worth $100,000

If Mercy Abire and her accomplices plead guilty to "Yahoo Yahoo," they could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in jail. Mercy Abire, a Nigerian long jumper based in the USA, was found guilty of conspiracy to launder money, or "Yahoo Yahoo" in local slang. The 28-year-old was charged with wire and mail fraud in the US together with two other sportsmen, namely Raymond Ekevwo, the current African Games men's 100m champion, and Aniekeme Etimwere, a former teen idol. According to a statement from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, between November 2018 and April 2019, Abire transferred more than $100,000 to coconspirators using her US bank account.According to the court documents and information presented between 2018 and 2022, Abire and her coconspirators used online romance scams, online charity scams, and other types of fraud to defraud victims of their money. "The money received as a result of these scams was then transferred between the conspirators, and ultimately, much of the money was transferred overseas.