28 found
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  1. Just married: the synergy between feminist criminology and the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework.Suleman Lazarus - 2019 - International Social Science Journal 69 (231):15-33.
    This article is a theoretical treatment of feminist epistemology of crime, which advocates the centrality of gender as a theoretical starting point for the investigating of digital crimes. It does so by exploring the synergy between the feminist perspectives and the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework (TCF) (which argues that three possible factors motivate cybercrimes – socioeconomic, psychosocial, and geopolitical) to critique mainstream criminology and the meaning of the term “cybercrime”. Additionally, the article examines gender gaps in online harassment, cyber‐bullying, cyber‐fraud, revenge (...)
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  2. Birds of a feather flock together: The Nigerian cyber fraudsters (yahoo boys) and hip hop artists.Suleman Lazarus - 2018 - Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law and Society 19 (2):63-80.
    This study sets out to examine the ways Nigerian cyber-fraudsters (Yahoo-Boys) are represented in hip-hop music. The empirical basis of this article is lyrics from 18 hip-hop artists, which were subjected to a directed approach to qualitative content analysis and coded based on the moral disengagement mechanisms proposed by Bandura (1999). While results revealed that the ethics of Yahoo-Boys, as expressed by musicians, embody a range of moral disengagement mechanisms, they also shed light on the motives for the Nigerian cybercriminals' (...)
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  3. Where Is the Money? The Intersectionality of the Spirit World and the Acquisition of Wealth.Suleman Lazarus - 2019 - Religions 10 (146):1-20.
    This article is a theoretical treatment of the ways in which local worldviews on wealth acquisition give rise to contemporary manifestations of spirituality in cyberspace. It unpacks spiritual (occult) economies and wealth generation through a historical perspective. The article ‘devil advocates’ the ‘sainthood’ of claimed law-abiding citizens, by highlighting that the line dividing them and the Nigerian cybercriminals (Yahoo-Boys) is blurred with regards to the use of magical means for material ends. By doing so, the article also illustrates that the (...)
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  4.  47
    Cheques or dating scams? Online fraud themes in hip-hop songs across popular music apps.Suleman Lazarus, Olaigbe Olaigbe, Ayo Adeduntan, Tochukwu Dibiana, Edward & Uzoma OKolorie, Geoffrey - 2023 - Journal of Economic Criminology 2:1-17.
    How do hip-hop songs produced from 2017 to 2023 depict and rationalize online fraud? This study examines the depiction of online fraudsters in thirty-three Nigerian hip-hop songs on nine popular streaming platforms such as Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, SoundCloud, Apple Music, and YouTube. Using a directed approach to qualitative content analysis, we coded lyrics based on the moral disengagement mechanism and core themes derived from existing literature. Our findings shed light on how songs (a) justify the fraudulent actions of online fraudsters, (...)
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  5. What Do We Know About Online Romance Fraud Studies? A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature (2000 to 2021).Suleman Lazarus, Jack Whittaker, Michael McGuire & Lucinda Platt - 2023 - Journal of Economic Criminology 1 (1).
    We aimed to identify the critical insights from empirical peer-reviewed studies on online romance fraud published between 2000 and 2021 through a systematic literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. The corpus of studies that met our inclusion criteria comprised twenty-six studies employing qualitative (n = 13), quantitative (n = 11), and mixed (n = 2) methods. Most studies focused on victims, with eight focusing on offenders and fewer investigating public perspectives. All the (...)
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  6. Advantageous comparison: using Twitter responses to understand similarities between cybercriminals (“Yahoo Boys”) and politicians (“Yahoo men”).Suleman Lazarus, Mark Button & Afe Adogame - 2022 - Heliyon Journal 8 (11):1-10.
    This article is about the manifestations of similarities between two seemingly distinct groups of Nigerians: cybercriminals and politicians. Which linguistic strategies do Twitter users use to express their opinions on cybercriminals and politicians? The study undertakes a qualitative analysis of ‘engaged’ tweets of an elite law enforcement agency in West Africa. We analyzed and coded over 100,000 ‘engaged’ tweets based on a component of mechanisms of moral disengagement (i.e., advantageous comparison), a linguistic device. The results reveal how respondents defend the (...)
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  7. Betrayals in Academia and a Black Demon from Ephesus.Suleman Lazarus - 2019 - Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice 9 (1):1-5.
    The poem is about my PhD experience. The title and parts of the themes are derived from an incident in the Bible (Acts 19:13-20). In order to provide a deeper meaning to my story, I have deployed a biblical allusion which connects with the story of the sons of Sceva, who made unsuccessful attempts to exorcise a man from Ephesus. They failed primarily because they operated not in the spirit but in the flesh.
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  8.  39
    Tweets and reactions: revealing the geographies of cybercrime perpetrators and the North-South divide.Suleman Lazarus & Mark Button - 2022 - CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 8 (1):1-8.
    How do tweets reflect the long-standing disparities between the northern and southern regions of Nigeria? This study presents a qualitative analysis of Twitter users' responses (n = 101,518) to the tweets of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding the production and prosecution of cybercrime. The article uses postcolonial perspectives to shed light on the legacies of British colonial efforts in Nigeria, such as the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914. The results revealed significant discrepancies between (...)
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  9. Establishing the particularities of cybercrime in Nigeria: theoretical and qualitative treatments.Suleman Lazarus - 2020 - Dissertation, University of Portsmouth
    This thesis, which is based on six peer-reviewed publications, is a theoretical and qualitative treatment of the ways in which social and contextual factors serve as a resource for understanding the particularities of ‘cybercrime’ that emanates from Nigeria. The thesis illuminates how closer attention to Nigerian society aids the understanding of Nigerian cybercriminals (known as Yahoo Boys), their actions and what constitutes ‘cybercrime’ in a Nigerian context. ‘Cybercrime’ is used in everyday parlance as a simple acronym for all forms of (...)
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  10.  30
    Cybercriminal Networks and Operational Dynamics of Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scammers: Insights from the “Black Axe” Confraternity.Suleman Lazarus - 2024 - Deviant Behavior 46:1-25.
    I explored the relationship between the “Black Axe” Confraternity and cybercrime, with a particular emphasis on the structural dynamics of the Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. I investigated whether a conventional hierarchical system governs the membership and remuneration for BEC roles as perpetrators by interviewing an accused “leader” of the “Black Axe” affiliated cybercriminal incarcerated in a prominent Western nation. I supplemented the analysis of interview data with insights from tapped phone records monitored by a law enforcement entity. I merged (...)
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  11.  46
    Exploring the value of feminist theory in understanding digital crimes: Gender and cybercrime types.Suleman Lazarus, Mark Button & Richard Kapend - 2022 - Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 1 (1):1-18.
    Do men and women perceive cybercrime types differently? This article draws on the distinction between socio-economic and psychosocial cybercrime proposed by Lazarus (2019) to investigate whether men and women hold different perceptions of digital crimes across these two dimensions. Informed by the synergy between feminist theory and the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework (TCF), our survey examined respondents’ differential perceptions of socio-economic cybercrime (online fraud) and psychosocial cybercrime (cyberbullying, revenge porn, cyberstalking, online harassment) among men and women in the United Kingdom. The (...)
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  12. Assessing Cybercrime Syndicates: Understanding ‘Black Axe’ Confraternity and Cybercriminal Networks in Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scams.Suleman Lazarus - 2024 - Public Sector Counter Fraud Journal 1 (14):24-26.
    Cybercrime is a global threat affecting both public and private sectors. Business email compromise (BEC) is one of the most advanced and lucrative forms of cybercrime, exploiting vulnerabilities in corporate email systems to facilitate unauthorised financial transactions. Organisations worldwide suffer substantial losses from these attacks. This article explores the connection between Black Axe and BEC scams, providing insights into how public sector organisations can better combat these sophisticated criminal networks.
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  13. Are fraud victims nothing more than animals? Critiquing the propagation of “pig butchering” (Sha Zhu Pan, 杀猪盘).Jack Whittaker, Suleman Lazarus & Taidgh Corcoran - 2024 - Journal of Economic Criminology 3.
    This is a theoretical treatment of the term "Sha Zhu Pan" (杀猪盘) in Chinese, which translates to “Pig-Butchering” in English. The article critically examines the propagation and validation of "Pig Butchering," an animal metaphor, and its implications for the dehumanisation of victims of online fraud across various discourses. The study provides background information about this type of fraud before investigating its theoretical foundations and linking its emergence to the dehumanisation of fraud victims. The analysis highlights the disparity between academic literature, (...)
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  14. ‘Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others’: The Hierarchy of Citizenship in Austria.Suleman Lazarus - 2019 - Laws 8 (14):1-20.
    While this article aims to explore the connections between citizenship and ‘race’, it is the first study to use fictional tools as a sociological resource in exemplifying the deviation between citizenship in principle and practice in an Austrian context. The study involves interviews with 73 Austrians from three ethnic/racial groups, which were subjected to a directed approach to qualitative content analysis and coded based on sentences from George Orwell’s fictional book, ‘Animal Farm’. By using fiction as a conceptual and analytical (...)
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  15. Nomophobia (no-mobile-phone phobia) among the undergraduate medical students.Suleman Lazarus, Abdul Rahim Ghafari, Richard Kapend, Khalid Jan Rezayee, Hasibullah Aminpoor, Mohammad Yasir Essar & Arash Nemat - 2024 - Heliyon 10 (16):1-13.
    Nomophobia (no-mobile-phone phobia) is the fear and anxiety of being without a mobile phone. This study pioneers the investigation of nomophobia in Afghanistan using the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q), addressing a crucial gap in the field. We collected statistical data from 754 undergraduate medical students, comprising men (56.50 %) and women (43.50 %), and analyzed the dimensions of nomophobia. While results revealed that all but two participants were nomophobic, they identified three significant dimensions affecting the level of nomophobia among participants: (a) (...)
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  16.  3
    An Assessment of Convicted Cryptocurrency Fraudsters.Kaina Habila Garba, Suleman Lazarus & Mark Button - 2024 - Current Issues in Criminal Justice 1 (2):1-18.
    We examine cryptocurrency fraud cases prosecuted by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). We considered the lens of the Space Transition Theory (STT) in exploring the dynamics of these digital crimes. Our data analysis reveals common types of fraud, including cryptocurrency investment schemes. The results show an exclusive male demographic (100%), with the majority under 30 years old and only a quarter possessing a degree, providing insights into the socio-demographic characteristics of cryptocurrency fraudsters. Additionally, while most fraudsters (55%) targeted (...)
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  17. The bifurcation of the Nigerian cybercriminals: Narratives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) agents.Suleman Lazarus & Geoffrey Okolorie - 2019 - Telematics and Informatics 40:14-26.
    While this article sets out to advance our knowledge about the characteristics of Nigerian cybercriminals (Yahoo-Boys), it is also the first study to explore the narratives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officers concerning them. It appraises symbolic interactionist insights to consider the ways in which contextual factors and worldview may help to illuminate officers’ narratives of cybercriminals and the interpretations and implications of such accounts. Semi-structured interviews of forty frontline EFCC officers formed the empirical basis of this (...)
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  18. What Nigerian hip-hop lyrics have to say about the country’s Yahoo Boys.Suleman Lazarus - 2019 - The Conversation.
    The article is based on lyrics from 2007 to 2017 involving 18 hip-hop artists. All the songs I studied were by male singers apart from one entitled, “Maga no need pay,” which involved seven multiple artists. In all the songs, the glamorization of cybercrime and cybercriminals was one of the most significant themes. The implications are discussed.
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  19. ‘Troubling’ Chastisement: A Comparative Historical Analysis of Child Punishment in Ghana and Ireland.Michael Rush & Suleman Lazarus - 2018 - Sociological Research Online 1 (23):177-196.
    This article reviews an epochal change in international thinking about physical punishment of children from being a reasonable method of chastisement to one that is harmful to children and troubling to families. In addition, the article suggests shifts in thinking about physical punishment were originally pioneered as part and parcel of the dismantling of national laws granting fathers’ specific rights to admonish children under conventions of patria potestas. A comparative historical framework of analysis involving two case studies of Ireland and (...)
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  20.  8
    Fraud as Legitimate Retribution for Colonial Injustice: Neutralization Techniques in Interviews with Police and Online Romance Fraud Offenders.Suleman Lazarus, Hughes Mariata, Button Mark & Garba Kaina Habila - 2025 - Deviant Behavior 38 (2):1-24.
    This qualitative research examines the phenomenon of online romance fraud, exploring it from contrasting perspectives. The study engaged two distinct groups of participants: (1) fraudsters actively involved in online romance scams (commonly referred to as “Sakawa Boys”) and (2) police officers with experience in investigating and policing internet crimes. We explore the usefulness of neutralization techniques in interpreting data within the cultural context of individuals’ subjective experiences. Thematic analysis of data reveals that both offenders and police officers employ certain neutralization (...)
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  21. Laments of an Immigrant Ashore.Suleman Lazarus - 2021 - Lothlorien Poetry Journal 4:1-2.
  22.  6
    Assessing Human Trafficking and Cybercrime Intersections Through Survivor Narratives.Suleman Lazarus, Chiang Mina & Button Mark - 2025 - Deviant Behavior 37 (4):1-27.
    This study examines how cybercriminals exploit deceptive recruitment tactics and digital platforms to entrap and exploit victims in human trafficking within the cybercrime context. It employs Migration and Transnationalism perspectives to elucidate the intersection of human trafficking and cybercrime operations in Cambodia. Using thematic analysis of victim testimonies, we identify six main themes: (1) Deception and Recruitment, (2) Manipulation and Control, (3) Exploitation and Forced Labor, (4) Trading and Movement, (5) Scamming Methods, and (6) Escape and Rescue. While the following (...)
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  23.  9
    Examining fifty cases of convicted online romance fraud offenders.Adebayo Benedict Soares & Suleman Lazarus - 2024 - Criminal Justice Studies 3 (1):1-24.
    This article examines fifty case files of cybercriminals that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) convicted for online romance fraud. It profiles offenders and explores the value of the Space Transition Theory in understanding digital crimes. Through documentary analysis, the study identifies key patterns in victim demographics, fraudsters’ operational strategies, and offenders’ socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings reveal a high concentration of U.S. victims (56%) and a preference among offenders for Apple’s iPhone (58%). Most offenders presented themselves as Caucasian American males (...)
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  24.  58
    Demonstrating the Therapeutic Values of Poetry in Doctoral Research: Autoethnographic Steps from the Enchanted Forest to a PhD by Publication Path.Suleman Lazarus - 2021 - Methodological Innovations 14 (2):1-11.
    We rarely acknowledge the achievements of doctoral candidates who fought with all they had but still lost the battle and dropped out – we know so little about what becomes of them. This reflective article is about the betrayals of PhD supervisors in one institution, the trauma and stigma of withdrawing from that institution, writing poetry as a coping mechanism and the triumph in completing a Thesis by Publication (TBP) in another institution. Thus, I build on Lesley Saunders’s idea about (...)
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  25.  5
    An Autoethnographic Perspective on Scholarly Impact, Citation Politics, and North–South Power Dynamics.Suleman Lazarus - 2024 - Life Writing 1 (4):1-27.
    Citations signal the significance and impact of publication outputs, conferring prestige within an academic prestige economy. The longstanding academic mandate to ‘publish or perish’ has been married with the modern expectation to ‘demonstrate impact or perish,’ reflecting an evolution in scholarly priorities and imposing a ‘double burden’ on scholars, particularly on early-career researchers and marginalised voices. I examine factors influencing citation metrics through an autoethnographic lens, situating them within my subjective experiences and exploring their broader implications. Drawing on my research (...)
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  26.  3
    From Business Centres to Hustle Kingdoms: Historical Perspectives on Innovative Models of Deviant Education.Suleman Lazarus & Soares Adebayo Benedict - 2025 - International Annals of Criminology 30 (2):1-20.
    The article pioneers the examination of “hustle kingdoms”: illegal cybercrime training academies in West Africa. It explores these entities as innovative and adaptive institutions that emerge in response to systemic socio-economic strain. This article provides a unique analysis of hustle kingdoms by situating their emergence within the region’s socio-economic, cultural and technological trajectories. It does so by assessing the contemporary manifestation of these cybercrime academies with history in mind to understand the past that created them. It highlights how these cybercrime (...)
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  27.  3
    Strategic Business Movements? The Migration of Online Romance Fraudsters from Nigeria to Ghana.Suleman Lazarus, Mark Button, Kaina Garba, Adebayo Soares & Mariata Hughes - 2025 - Journal of Economic Criminology 7 (2).
    This study used an emic approach to examine the dynamics of online romance fraud, focusing on the migration of offenders from Nigeria to Ghana. We collected data through qualitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Ghanaian police officers and Nigerian law enforcement officers were consulted for their perspectives. Thematic analysis revealed key findings, including the migration patterns of Nigerian offenders to Ghana and the institutionalisation of scamming enterprises. These findings shed light on the transnational and structural factors (...)
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  28.  2
    Love, Lies, and Larceny: One Hundred Convicted Case Files of Cybercriminals with Eighty Involving Online Romance Fraud.Soares Adebayo Benedict, Suleman Lazarus & Button Mark - 2025 - Deviant Behavior 47 (2):1-24.
    This article examines 100 convicted case files of cybercriminals, 80 of which concern online romance fraud. While all were prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria, many involve multiple offenses, including crypto investment fraud and hacking. The study provides critical insights into offender profiles and the criminal justice system’s approach to cybercrime enforcement. Drawing on the Space Transition Theory (STT), the study highlights the transient and intermittent nature of criminal activities in cyberspace. The findings reveal that most (...)
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