The International Police Organisation has apprehended three
Nigerians for alleged involvement in a cyber scam targeting governments and
private firms in over 150 countries.
They were said to be part of a criminal organisation that
allegedly compromised thousands of government and private companies across the
world.
A statement published on the Interpol website on Wednesday
said the arrest was carried out by a joint operation of the Interpol, a
cybersecurity company, Group-IB, and the Nigeria Police Force, tagged
‘Operation Falcon.’
Explaining the suspects’ mode of operation, Interpol said
the gang focused on mass email phishing campaigns distributing popular malware
strains under the guise of purchasing orders, product inquiries, and even
COVID-19 aid while impersonating legitimate companies.
The statement read, “The suspects are alleged to have
developed phishing links, domains, and mass mailing campaigns in which they
impersonated representatives of organisations.
“They, then, used these campaigns to disseminate 26 malware
programmes, spyware, and remote access tools, including AgentTesla, Loki,
Azorult, Spartan, and the nanocore and Remcos Remote Access Trojans.
“These programmes were used to infiltrate and monitor the
systems of victim organisations and individuals, before launching scams and syphoning
funds.
“According to Group-IB, the prolific gang is believed to
have compromised government and private sector companies in more than 150
countries since 2017.”
Interpol’s cybercrime director, Craig Jones was quoted as
saying that the public-private relationships are important in disrupting
virtual crimes, stressing that “cooperation in investigation will upset
well-established criminal business models.”
Based on the infrastructure that the attackers used and
their techniques, Interpol disclosed that Group-IB was also able to establish
that the gang was divided into subgroups with a number of individuals still at
large.
“The findings on other suspected gang members, whom Group-IB
was able to track down, have been shared with Interpol’s Cybercrime
Directorate. The investigation continues,” it added.
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