Interpol Catches The Leader Of $60m Cybercrime Gang

The suspected ringleader of an international criminal network - responsible for thousands of online frauds which targeted businesses and netted an estimated $60m (£45m) - has been arrested in a joint cybercrime operation by Interpol and the Nigerian authorities.

Only known only as 'Mike', the 40-year-old Nigerian national is believed to have led a network of 40 individuals who launched cyber-attacks and malware injections against email accounts of businesses located in countries across Europe and the rest of the world.

One fraud case alone resulted in a payment of a $15.4m (£11m). In a statement, Interpol said: "The main two types of scam targeted businesses [and] 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 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."

Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro first reported the activities of the criminal gang to the authorities in November 2014, based on an analysis of hundreds of Nigerian scams.

Both 'Mike' and another suspect, who has not been named, now face charges including hacking, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretenses.

DataIQ: http://bit.ly/2aTWPTY