Nigerian 'wife' uses Internet to scam Frenchman

A Frenchman who thought he had found a wife in Nigeria over the Internet was instead scammed out of 25,000 euros by a man pretending to be a woman, authorities said.

Two suspects, Omodara Adedapo Oluseye and Adesuyi Ayodeji Adedapo, both 27, have been arrested over the alleged scam, Nigeria's anti-corruption agency said in a statement. They have pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say Oluseye was pretending to be a woman when he met the victim over the Internet in May 2009 and the two later agreed to get married.

Oluseye told the victim "she" would relocate to France to meet him. First, however, Oluseye told the victim he needed money to hire a lawyer because his employer in Nigeria refused to pay him.

He also said he needed cash to update his travel documents.

The French victim, identified as Francois Mercade, then wired the 25,000 euros (33,000 dollars) "before he realised that his dream lover was only scamming him," the agency said.

France's embassy in Nigeria reported the alleged scam to authorities in September 2009.

The two suspects have been charged with fraud and obtaining money through false pretences.

A large number of Internet scams have originated in Nigeria targeted at gullible potential victims in rich countries.