A Nigerian accused of scamming $60 million from companies around the world
\nthrough fraudulent emails has been arrested after months of investigation,
\nInterpol and Nigeria\u2019s anti-fraud agency said Monday.<\/p>\n
One target paid out $15.4 million, according to a statement from Interpol.<\/p>\n
The ringleader of a global scamming network, identified only as a
\n40-year-old known as Mike, was arrested along with a 38-year-old
\naccomplice in Nigeria\u2019s oil capital, Port Harcourt, in June, said the
\nstatement. He is on administrative bail, which implies that officers do
\nnot yet have enough evidence to charge him in court.<\/p>\n
The man is accused of leading a criminal network that compromised email
\naccounts of small and medium-sized businesses around the world including
\nin the United States, Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South
\nAfrica and Thailand. The statement didn\u2019t name any of the targets.<\/p>\n
The network involved about 40 people in Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa
\nwho provided malware and carried out the frauds, with money-laundering
\ncontacts in China, Europe and the United States providing bank account
\ndetails.
\nA supplier\u2019s email would be compromised and fake messages sent to a buyer
\nwith instructions for payment to a bank account under the network\u2019s
\ncontrol, the statement said. Or the email account of a high-level
\nexecutive would be taken over and a request for a wire transfer sent to an
\nemployee responsible for handling such requests.<\/p>\n
Such crime \u201cposes a significant and growing threat, with tens of thousands
\nof companies victimized in recent years,\u201d Noboru Nakatani, executive
\ndirector of the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, said in a
\nstatement. \u201cThe public, and especially businesses, need to be alert to
\nthis type of cyber-enabled fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigeria is notorious for internet fraud. The U.S. Embassy says it receives
\ninquiries every day from Americans who have been defrauded.
\nCopyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
\nmay not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Nigerian accused of scamming $60 million from companies around the world through fraudulent emails has been arrested after months of investigation, Interpol and Nigeria\u2019s anti-fraud agency said Monday. One…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n