Nigerian accused of scamming hundreds of victims around the world detained along with second suspect in Port Harcourt




A Nigerian man accused of being the ringleader of an online fraud network that scammed more than $60m (£45m) from companies around the world has been arrested after months of investigation, Interpol said.

The 40-year-old, known only as Mike, was arrested in June along with a 38-year-old in the Nigerian oil capital of Port Harcourt.

He is accused of scamming hundreds of victims and running a network of at least 40 people working from Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa.

The man is also said to have money-laundering contacts in China, Europe and the US, who provided bank account details for the illicit cash flow.

“In one case, a target was conned into paying out $15.4m,” Interpol said. “The network compromised email accounts of small to medium businesses around the world including Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.”

The scams included a supplier’s email being compromised and fake messages sent to a buyer with instructions for payment to a bank account under the network’s control, or the email account of a high-level executive being taken over and a request for a wire transfer sent to an employee responsible for handling such requests.

Noboru Nakatani, the executive director of the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, said such crime “poses a significant and growing threat, with tens of thousands of companies victimised in recent years”. The public, and especially businesses, he added, needed to be alert to this type of cyber-enabled fraud.

The arrest was carried out with the support of Nigeria’s anti-fraud agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Following his arrest in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria, a forensic examination of devices seized by the EFCC showed he [the suspect] had been involved in a range of criminal activities, including business email compromise and romance scams,” Interpol said.

The suspects face charges including hacking, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences. They are on bail pending further investigation.

source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/01/interpol-arrests-alleged-ringleader-45m-scamming-network-nigerian

FTC I dedicate this to the average Nigerian out there, may God intervene in the issue of our country and may the needy not be neglected...

What's his name?

lalasticlala

Why grant bail.....instead of direct entry to kiri kiri.

DannyJ19:
Why grant bail.....instead of direct entry to kiri kiri.

you dey see say na interpol make the arrest, you dey talk of kiri kiri.

you think interpol operates like nigeria's brain-dead security agents?

PH boys badt gan

Checking names but still searching.

That dude should be appointed coordinating minister of Naija economy joor. We can do with some smart minds around here..

When you seat with this scammers, you will envy their skill. If only it can be put into positive use then they wont end up in cuffs. On the other hand, what positive use is available in this country.

Now somme bad belle will say i'm checking names.....

I wish they cld empower d guy aafter finishing his prison terms... if only his ability can be channelled to gud tinz.. like trailing other cyber crime et all...

Well done interPol..

But come to think of it, i'm not advocating for yahoo yahoo oo, but without yahoo yahoo, what will become d fate of most youths in d country? It's like banning Okada...

If only our government can empower and encourage our youths, Nigeria will be a better place...

Yahoo yahoo gone wrong. The problem is always greed, with such amount of money you should be set up and stop scamming.

g

Name checkers be like : WHAT IS HIS FULL NAME

Wizzyblack3:
What's his name?

Chief Nnamdi Kalu aka Eze ndigbo 1 of Biafra country

odimna

Some people no get conscience. Just negodu

Port Harcourt?

Native Name PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

See money

Noted

I don't usually do this but. . .
NCAN report:
Name: Mike
Location: Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Over to my ogas at the top

NCAN

Give us his real name...he must be Afonja brown roof because it's them that answer ENGLISH NAME only when it comes to fraud. The other day there was one that claimed to be Frederick Westhuff...lol, I kept looking at his distinctive yoruba face, even with tribal marks.Lol

Busted.. .Nigeria government should wake up to it responsibility

lalasticlala why did you convert it to pounds, the figure was in dollar nah

Mike mike yahoo is your calling and am sure your people are proud of you

came 2 check names