Nigerian ringleader of global network behind thousands of online scams arrested in Rivers State- Interpol

A Nigerian suspected of being in charge of a network of internet
scammers, stealing around $60m (£45m), has been arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

According
to the international police organisation, the 40-year-old Nigerian
known as ‘Mike’, the head of an international criminal network behind
thousands of
online frauds was arrested in a joint operation by INTERPOL and the
Nigerian Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

The Nigerian national is believed to be behind
scams totalling 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,”

 

Source: www.interpol.com