A Nigerian suspected of being in charge of a network
of internet scammers, stealing around $60m (£45m), has been arrested
in the oil city of Port Harcourt. Continue to read statement from Interpol…
The head of an international criminal network behind
thousands of online frauds has been arrested in a joint operation by INTERPOL
and the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
The 40-year-old Nigerian national, known as ‘Mike’, is
believed to be behind scams totaling more than USD 60 million involving
hundreds of victims worldwide. In one case a target was conned into paying out
USD 15.4 million.
The network compromised email accounts of small to medium
businesses around the world including in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia,
Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the US, with the financial victims mainly
other companies dealing with these compromised accounts.
Heading a network of at least 40 individuals across Nigeria,
Malaysia and South Africa which both provided malware and carried out the
frauds, the alleged mastermind also had money laundering contacts in China,
Europe and the US who provided bank account details for the illicit cash flow.
Following his arrest in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria, a
forensic examination of devices seized by the EFCC showed he had been involved
in a range of criminal activities including business e-mail compromise (BEC)
and romance scams.
The main two types of scam run by the 40-year-old targeted
businesses were payment diversion fraud – where a supplier’s email would be
compromised and fake messages would then be sent to the buyer with instructions
for payment to a bank account under the criminal’s control – and ‘CEO fraud’.
In CEO fraud, the email account of a high-level executive is
compromised and a request for a wire transfer is sent to another employee who
has been identified as responsible for handling these requests. The money is
then paid into a designated bank account held by the criminal.
‘Mike’ first came onto the law enforcement radar through a
report provided to INTERPOL by Trend Micro, one of its strategic partners at
the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore. This, combined
with actionable analysis and intelligence from Fortinet Fortiguard Labs in
2015, enabled specialists at the INTERPOL Digital Crime Centre, including
experts from Cyber Defense Institute based at the IGCI, and the EFCC to locate
the suspect in Nigeria, resulting in his arrest in June.
Abdul Chukkol, Head of the EFCC’s Cybercrime Section said
the transnational nature of business e-mail compromise makes it complex to
crack, but the arrest sent a clear signal that Nigeria could not be considered
a safe haven for criminals.
“For a long time we have said in order to be effective, the
fight against cybercrime must rely on public-private partnerships and
international cooperation,” said Mr Chukkol.
"The success of this operation is the result of close
cooperation between INTERPOL and the EFCC, whose understanding of the Nigerian
environment made it possible to disrupt the criminal organization’s network
traversing many countries, targeting individuals and companies,” added Mr
Chukkol.
Noboru Nakatani, Executive Director of the IGCI warned that
BEC poses a significant and growing threat, with tens of thousands of companies
victimized in recent years.
"The public, and especially businesses, need to be alert to
this type of cyber-enabled fraud,” said Mr Nakatani. Basic security protocols such as two-factor authentication
and verification by other means before making a money transfer are essential to
reduce the risk of falling victim to these scams. It is exactly through this
type of public and private sector cooperation that INTERPOL will continue to
help member countries in bringing cybercriminals to justice no matter where
they are," concluded Mr Nakatani.
The 40-year-old, along with a 38-year-old also arrested by
Nigerian authorities, faces charges including hacking, conspiracy and obtaining
money under false pretences. Both are currently on administrative bail as the
investigation continues.
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