{"id":16347,"date":"2016-06-18T04:49:39","date_gmt":"2016-06-18T04:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=16347"},"modified":"2016-06-18T05:01:25","modified_gmt":"2016-06-18T05:01:25","slug":"wizkid-impersonator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wizkid-impersonator","title":{"rendered":"A Con Artist Stole More Than $65,000 By Impersonating Wizkid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Nigerian artist Wizkid, whose real name is\u00a0Ayodeji Balogun, recently revealed that he was the victim of an identity theft scheme.<\/p>\n<h2>A 19-year-old con\u00a0artist<\/h2>\n<p>Ifeoma Nelly, a 19-year-old female student impersonated the Nigerian superstar and lured prospective clients for large sums of money. She supposedly was\u00a0a 200-level Industrial Chemistry student of Delta state University.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16348\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/xifeoma-wizkid.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"308\" height=\"370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/xifeoma-wizkid.jpg 308w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/xifeoma-wizkid-85x102.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 308px) 100vw, 308px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.360nobs.com\/2016\/06\/19-year-old-girl-impersonating-wizkid-arrested\/\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A three-year-old scheme<\/h2>\n<p>For the past 3 years, Nelly received more than $65,000 impersonating Wizkid. She opened a Facebook account in Wizkid&#8217;s name, pretended to be the artist and collected money for shows. Australian clients \u00a0notified Wizkid about the situation when the fraudster said she was in Nigeria while in reality, Wizkid\u00a0was touring in Zambia.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;They said someone wanted to collect money from them in Lagos, Nigeria, for Wizkid to come and perform. They now found out that I was in Zambia. They now wondered how possible it was for Wizkid\u2019s manager to be in Zambia, while Wizkid was in Lagos. They managed to get my number and called me.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16352\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16352\" style=\"width: 728px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-16352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/maxresdefault.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/maxresdefault-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/maxresdefault-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16352\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/IQdAB2DgQl4\/maxresdefault.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>&#8220;She looked like a guy&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>The actual arrest looked like a real detective story. Wizkid asked his Australian client to arrange a meeting with the impersonators in a Lagos hotel. Nelly arrived at the hotel with two of her friends and headed to a room where she was expecting to meet the Australian client.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;She looked like a guy. It took us three to four hours before we could believe she was a lady,&#8221; Wizkid said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Wizkid commended the Lagos State Police for helping him redeem his image and opened up on how these\u00a0fraudsters have affected his career:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16353\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16353\" style=\"width: 733px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-16353\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/media-2016-06-17-at-8-21-05-am.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"733\" height=\"617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/media-2016-06-17-at-8-21-05-am.jpg 499w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/media-2016-06-17-at-8-21-05-am-85x72.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 733px) 100vw, 733px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16353\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/IQdAB2DgQl4\/maxresdefault.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I am happy my name is being cleared and I want justice. The situation has affected me psychologically because I was being accused of taking money I knew nothing about. The press also did not believe me so that dampened my morale.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wizkid-fame\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0Here\u2019s Wizkid\u2019s Formula For International Success.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigerian artist Wizkid, whose real name is\u00a0Ayodeji Balogun, recently revealed that he was the victim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":16354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Con Artist Stole More Than $65,000 By Impersonating Wizkid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;The situation has affected me 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