INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security
Trend Micro, Fortinet, help Interpol nab Nigerian online scammer
( Left to right) Derek Manky, Global Security Strategist, Fortinet; Raj Samani, Vice President and CTO EMEA, Intel Security; Raimund Genes, CTO Trend Micro; Joe Stewart, Counter Threat Unit, Threat Intelligence, SecureWorks.
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 $ 60 million involving hundreds of victims worldwide. In one case a target was conned into paying out $ 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 Business Email Compromise and romance scams.
The main two types of scam run by the forty-year-old, targeting businesses were payment diversion fraud and CEO fraud. In payment diversion fraud, 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. 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.
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 pretenses. Both are currently on administrative bail as the investigation continues.
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. 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 organisation’ s network traversing many countries, targeting individuals and companies.”
Noboru Nakatani, Executive Director of the IGCI warned that Business Email Compromise poses a significant and growing threat, with tens of thousands of companies victimised in recent years.“ The public, and especially businesses, need to be alert to this type of cyber-enabled fraud. 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.”
“ Arrests like this are made possible by partnerships between members of the security community which come together with the common goal of making the internet a safer place,” added Nakatani.“ BEC scams are particularly difficult to combat due to their complexity, which is why public-private sector cooperation is essential.”
“ Trend Micro is a strong proponent of public-private partnerships in the constant battle against cybercriminals,” said Raimund Genes, CTO Trend Micro.“ We have a collective adversary in those who mean to do harm via technology, and we at Trend Micro do all we can to support law enforcement in apprehending and prosecuting these attackers. This is another a milestone for the cybersecurity community working together.”
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