Interpol arrests mastermind of Nigerian online scams worth US$60 million
Mastermind’s network included hundreds of victims and operated through compromised e-mail accounts. The initial tip-off came from Trend Micro.
The head of an international criminal network behind thousands of Nigerian online fraud cases was arrested yesterday in Port Harcourt, southern Nigeria. The arrest was a joint operation by Interpol and the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
According to a statement released by Interpol, the mastermind, a 40-year-old Nigerian man, was responsible for scams totaling more than US$60 million (S$80.62 million). The scams involved victims on a worldwide scale – one victim paid up to US$15.4 million.
The ringleader, “Mike”, headed a network of 40 people across Nigeria, Malaysia, and South Africa. These accomplices were responsible for helping the ringleader in distributing malware and carrying out the scams, while Mike’s contacts in China, Europe, and the US helped to launder money by providing bank account details for cash flow.
The mastermind used compromised e-mail accounts of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) from Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the US. Two main scam types were conducted by the man. Payment diversion frauds saw fake e-mails from compromised accounts instructing businesses related to the compromised SMEs to forward payment to a fraudulent bank account. CEO frauds saw e-mail accounts of compromised high-level executives requesting for wire transfer by targeting the SME’s finance employees.
“Mike” was alerted to the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore, via a Trend Micro report. The report was helped along by analysis and intelligence work done by Fortinet Fortiguard Labs in 2015, enabling relevant Interpol departments and the Nigerian authorities to arrest the mastermind in June 2016.
“The public, and especially businesses, need to be alert to this type of cyber-enabled fraud,” said Mr Noboru Nakatani, Executive Director of the IGCI. “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: Interpol via Ars Technica
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