The Special Cybersecurity Division (DSC) has put an end to the activities of Mr. Sine, a 38-year-old broker based in Thiès, who was preying on women he met on social media. He was brought before the Dakar prosecutor's office on Tuesday on charges of identity theft and robbery, according to Libération.

A method of operation based on manipulation

To ensnare his victims, the newspaper reports, he relied on a well-rehearsed scheme. To gain their trust, he assumed religiously-sounding identities through Facebook accounts named "Mame Khalifa Malick Sy," "Cheikh Ababacar Sy," or "Mame Fa Malick Sy." He then presented himself as an "emigrant based in the USA, visiting Senegal on vacation," targeting exclusively single women. With one of his victims, he even went so far as to "exchange phone calls with her father and brothers" to lend credibility to a promise of marriage.

The robbery at the restaurant

Once he had established trust, he would arrange a meeting at a restaurant. After ordering, he would use the excuse of having forgotten his own phone to borrow it for an urgent call. Pretending to step away to make the call, the victim would disappear with the device—often expensive models like the iPhone 14—leaving the victim alone with a hefty bill (sometimes up to 30,000 FCFA).

How he was surrounded

His arrest resulted from several concurring complaints, including those of MDC (33 years old) and FK (26 years old). These testimonies allowed the DSC (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) to reconstruct the same scam pattern. Thanks to in-depth technical investigations, the investigators were able to trace him. Sine was "trapped and apprehended at the Shell station in Grand Yoff."

Overwhelming evidence

The search of his home in the Aiglon neighborhood of Thiès sealed his fate: "One of the stolen phones was found in his bedroom," the others having already been sold on the secondhand market. He confessed to investigators, admitting that "the number of victims is incalculable since he confessed to operating for six months," the same source added.