Interpol, in a
statement issued today, said: “The 40-year-old Nigerian national, known
as ‘Mike’, is believed to be behind scams amounting to more than US$60m
involving hundreds of victims worldwide. He was arrested in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State.
In one case, a target was conned into paying out US$15.4m. The
network compromised email accounts of small to medium businesses around
the world.
Mike ran a network of at least 40 people working from Nigeria,
Malaysia and South Africa, which used malware and carried out the fraud,
and he also had money laundering contacts in China, Europe and the US
who provided bank account details for the illicit cash flow.
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 INTERPOLGlobal 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, to locate the suspect in Nigeria, resulting
in his arrest in June.
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.
everyday for the theif...one day for the owner
No comments:
Post a Comment