Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

How police burst cyber fraud cartel

By Odita Sunday
19 October 2018   |   10:09 am
The Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Alagbon, Ikoyi today said forensic experts aided detectives in the clampdown of a transnational cyber fraud syndicate that specialised in cloning documents and fleecing corporate bodies and high net worth individuals of millions of dollars. Commissioner of police in charge of Anti-Fraud Unit, CP Dan Nkem Okoro…

Some of the cloned government documents

The Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Alagbon, Ikoyi today said forensic experts aided detectives in the clampdown of a transnational cyber fraud syndicate that specialised in cloning documents and fleecing corporate bodies and high net worth individuals of millions of dollars.

Commissioner of police in charge of Anti-Fraud Unit, CP Dan Nkem Okoro stated this while updating newsmen on the crime.

Okoro said the unit was already trailing another member of the syndicate alleged to be working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), adding that the police engaged in Forensic Voice Analysis (FVA) and intercepted encrypted conversations between members of the gang.

He said the manhunt for the gang had been on since complaints of contradicting judgments emanating from courts as well as the plethora of cloned clearance documents from the presidency, CBN, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Western Union Money Transfer, Insurance companies, among others.

“With the help of an agency that has expertise in forensic analysis, we were able to decode encrypted messages, analyse voice notes of conversations between members of the gang and also accessed some of the documents which were retrieved from their phones.

“They forged these documents and circulate to innocent persons who do not know they are fake. The syndicate in 2014 issued fake clearance letters from the office of the President having the signature of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“They have insiders in banks who give them details of accounts with large cash flow that they hack into. These insiders provide them with front and back pictures of customers’ Automative Teller Machine (ATM) cards, credit cards and they in turn, pull out money from these accounts.

“The group has also been linked to various offshore account frauds. So, those who dump money in accounts abroad thinking it is secure should take extra measures because these criminals are being provided with access to such funds.

“We are making this public because we want people to be aware. Members of the syndicate are with us now and are assisting us with an investigation.

“You can see documents belonging to corporate bodies and government agencies. We are also showing these documents so that the agencies concerned can come forward for streamlining.

“A serious cyber attack is going on now. A lot of people who are insiders in banks are culpable in divulging people’s bank details, cloning of POS and ATM cards.

“The public should be careful about releasing their cards to another person, no matter their relationship. This syndicate go as far as buying this information in order to penetrate the domains of high net worth innocent persons.”

Okoro who took reporters on a courtesy visit to the agency said that plans were underway for detectives in the unit to be trained by the forensic experts.

In this article

0 Comments