Port Harcourt – A 40-year-old Nigerian man identified only as Mike has been nabbed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State for his alleged connection in a network of internet scammers, popularly known as ‘yahoo yahoo’, stealing around £45m (USD 15.4 million).
Mike, believed to be the head of an international criminal network behind thousands of online frauds, was arrested in a joint operation by International Police Organisation, Interpol and Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The Interpol on Sunday reported that Mike was arrested alongside a 38-year-old unnamed man by Nigerian authorities.
Following Mike’s arrest, a forensic examination of devices seized by the EFCC reportedly 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 which 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.
According to the report, the alleged mastermind, heading a network of at least 40 individuals across Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa which both provided malware and carried out the frauds, 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.
He also had money laundering contacts in China, Europe and the US, who provided bank account details for the illicit cash flow.
Head of the EFCC’s Cybercrime Section, Abdul Chukkol, said for a long time, they have said that in order to be effective, the fight against cybercrime must rely on public-private partnerships and international cooperation.
He added that 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.
“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.
“The public, and especially businesses, need to be alert to this type of cyber-enabled fraud.
“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,” Chukkol added.
Meanwhile, the report further revealed that the alleged mastermind and his accomplice, who are facing charges of hacking, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretenses, are currently on administrative bail as the EFCC and Interpol continues investigation.