In a bid to rid the nation of the growing epidemic of internet fraud, the Nigeria Police and the International Police (INTERPOL), have launched several campaigns which have been yielding the desired result.
Point News247 reports that one of such fruits of the several intelligence gathering and investigation efforts of the joint team, led to the recent arrests of over twelve members of a hitherto prolific cartel.
In a statement exclusively obtained by the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP) and signed by the Vice President INTERPOL (Africa) and
Head, National Central Bureau Abuja, Director, DACORA, AIG (Dr) Garba Baba Umar, it was revealed that the joint operation, exposed suspects said to be members of Silver Terrier, a network known for Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) scams which have harmed thousands of companies globally.
The statement further detailed how the agencies undertook a 10-day operation from December 13 to 22, with special cybercrime agents simultaneously working in Abuja, Lagos and Asaba in Delta State, arresting targeted suspects identified, ahead of time with intelligence provided by the INTERPOL.
The statement also noted that “Field operations were preceded by an intelligence exchange and analysis phase, where the Cybercrime Unit of NPF used INTERPOL’S secure global communication network – i24/7 to work with the Police Force across the globe and also help in the investigation of BEC scams liked to Nigeria.
“Preliminary analysis confirmed that the suspect’s collective involvement in BEC criminal schemes associated with more than 50,000 victims. One of the suspects arrested has in his possession more than 800,000 potential victims’’ domains credentials on his lap top. Another suspects had been monitoring conversation between 16 companies and their clients and diverting funds to Silver terrier whenever the companies’ monetary transaction is about to be made.”
The Police went on to remind members of the public to protect themselves from cyber attacks, saying increased threats of cybercrime continues to make wave.
Nigerians were further urged to strictly comply with the advice featured in INTERPOL’s #JustOneClick, #WashYourcyberHands, #OnlineCrimeIsRealCrime and #BECarefulcampaigns.