immediately The format boy answered the phone and I recognized his thriving voice. I spent weeks immersing myself in the influencer’s back video and voice notes catalog. The Format Boy is not like other influencers: He doesn’t show his face, nor will he tell me his real name. He did not post motivating content or seek profitable brand deals. Instead, he is teaching his audience how to coordinate high-paying online scams.
Format Boys – He has accumulated thousands of followers and gained hundreds of thousands of views when he styled on YouTube, Telegram, Instagram and X – as an informal consultant, becoming a sinister group of West African fraudsters known as Yahoo Boys.
Often, these cybercriminals (mostly young people) work from their phones or laptops to make money from wealthy foreigners (usually Americans). Some people start using facial scans and deep effects to enhance their wear and tear. In a recent development, Yahoo Boys and AI-generated news patches have released fake CNN broadcasts designed to deceive the people they ransomware that they have stood out in the news.
Yahoo boys are usually based on Nigeria and have developed a thorough relationship with the victim within weeks or months before withdrawing any cash. They are not the most technically complex liars, but they are agile and skilled social engineers. Victims in the United States, Britain and elsewhere have lost millions of dollars in recent years, and multiple teenage boys have reportedly claimed their lives after being blackmailed and reversed by them.
Yahoo boys have their own terminology (a code) that can help them with scams (and potentially avoid social media review teams). The victim is called “customers.” “Bombing” involves sending messages to hundreds of online accounts to see if anyone responds. The scam is called “format” (hence the name format boy). And there are formats for various occasions. Romance and dating formats try to get people in love. Police and FBI officials have mimicked the imitation scam. Elon Musk’s format pretends to be a millionaire. There are investment scams, gift card scams, and the list continues. Hundreds of scripts that can be copied and pasted directly into the victims float on the internet. One is called “50 Questions, asking your customers to be Yahoo Boys”.
There is a whole culture of hustle and bustle around Yahoo Boys. They put luxury cars and wore exquisite jewelry. On social media, hundreds of pages and groups often use “Yahoo” explicitly in their names, claiming to guide new immigrants, teach them the skills they need to deceive, and give them tools to do so.
Format Boys is one of the most prominent or obvious of these “scammers” – his posts are often tagged by cybersecurity researchers who track Yahoo boys.
“I’m going to teach you how to make fake video calls in this video,” the Format Boy said at the beginning of his most popular YouTube video. The dramatic music shouting is a deep-board video call made on the screen. A short text banner says it is for educational purposes only. In fact, six of Gorgat Boy’s most popular videos are all about creating Deepfakes, while others detail how Yahoo Boy Scams works. “Fake video calls are very important,” he said in a voice note on the telegram. “Sometimes, your customers can’t post some information to you without physically seeing you without seeing you on the camera.”
Illustration: Manuel Cetin
Format Boy started working around 2019, using cheap phones to spam potential victims on dating sites. From there, he was in the business of teaching people methods and selling them software, guides and tools. But on my phone, the format boys can quickly get away from the liar. “It’s not something I’m really doing personally,” he said, repeating his claims many times, although he admits he has at least some hands-on experience. “At some point, I was doing this, but eventually I stopped and started doing it…I started doing video editing and AI research,” he said.
He complained that YouTube has deleted his channel several times over the past three years, resetting his followers each time. When pushed, he admitted that what he posted online could help people break the law. “I won’t lie to you. That’s the truth; it encourages them.” He is most active on the Telegram channel, where he regularly sends messages and rambled voice notes to 15,000 subscribers (up to 9 minutes). His post provides advice on how to build trust with “customers” to access their bank accounts and provide advice and offers for AI software that Yahoo Boys can be used to change the look in video calls with potential victims. In one article, he promoted Valentine’s Day promotional offers on this DeepFake software, reducing it from 60,000 Nigerian Naira (about $38) to 15,000 ($9.50).
