The rise of internet fraud, popularly called “yahoo-yahoo,” among youths remains a major security challenge in Nigeria. While many studies interview free students on campus, very little is known about the profiles of fraudsters who have been caught and convicted. This study examines the behavioral and socioeconomic profiles of cybercrime offenders and their implications for cybersecurity in correctional centers within Anambra State. Adopting a descriptive documentary research design, the study integrated qualitative interview evidence from 10 inmates with quantitative survey data from 443 retrieved questionnaires across selected custodial facilities. The findings reveal that cybercrime in this context is not a single form of offense. General online fraud emerged as the most common crime type (65.2%), followed closely by phishing (48.3%) and identity theft (39.7%), while high-level technical hacking was much lower (27.3%). Key behavioral and socioeconomic drivers included the strong belief that police would never catch them (66.4%), peer pressure from friends (58.5%), and family poverty (39.1%). Statistically, the study established significant positive relationships between cybercrime typologies and profiling accuracy (r = .612, p < .001), and between cybersecurity effectiveness and profiling accuracy (r = .584, p < .001). Crucially, the data exposes a serious gap between prison punishment and real reform; while 88.9% of inmates confirmed that phones and internet are strictly banned, only 41.3% had ever participated in any positive computer or ICT rehabilitation program. This remains a major missed opportunity as 64.8% of the inmates expressed a strong willingness to drop internet fraud and turn their digital skills toward legal IT employment. The study concludes that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) must move past simple device bans. Effective prison security must be combined with monitored computer workshops, psychological counseling against the “get-rich-quick” mindset, and structured post-release support to permanently stop these youths from returning to digital fraud.

Keywords: Cybercrime, Offender Profiling, Correctional Centers, Rehabilitation, Anambra State, Yahoo-Yahoo.