$60m scam: INTERPOL, EFCC arrest Nigerian fraudster in P’Harcourt

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in conjunction with the International Criminal Police Organisation have arrested a Nigerian fraudster for an alleged $60m (N18.9bn) scam.

According to a statement by the EFCC and INTERPOL, the suspect identified only as Mike, heads an international criminal network which is behind thousands of online scams including the hacking of emails.

The 40-year-old Nigerian is believed to be behind scams totalling more than $60m involving hundreds of victims worldwide. In one case, a target was conned into paying out $15.4m.

The network compromised email accounts of small and medium businesses around the world including Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the United States, with the financial victims mainly other companies dealing with these compromised accounts.