Nigerians lured Western companies more than $ 3 billion

Nigerians lured Western companies more than $ 3 billion

Interpol, together with Trend Micro, calculated the losses of Western companies from the actions of "Nigerian" fraudsters and came to the conclusion that in recent years, intruders have grown adorable in the subtleties of BEC fraud and over three years have grown over $ 3 billion.

The meaning of BEC-fraud is sending out credible-looking accounts and office notes, through which criminals cheat employees to transfer funds to fake accounts. In addition, such letters can be infected with malicious keyloggers.

BEC fraud is becoming a major concern for businesses: last year the FBI already reported a loss of one billion dollars only in the US.It is known that some victims lost tens of millions of dollars at a time, like, for example, the Austrian company FACC, which lost more than $ 54 million.

The report also indicates that West African scammers are improving their skills and are already capable of turning complex and sophisticated operations. Interpol notes a high level of proficiency in social engineering techniques, which, combined with rich malicious tools, allow the "Nigerians" to successfully implement their schemes.

Rapid flourishing of online crime in West Africa can be explained by the presence of education and motive. Almost half of university graduates in this region do not find work during the year, and their attraction to the criminal world is increasing every month. Cybercrime has even become a religion in Ghana, where its adepts worship and sacrifice a deity named Sakawa, which is designed to prevent the disclosure of fraudulent schemes and to provide good fattening.

The Interpol study also provides a detailed description of the two largest groups of fraudsters in the region. The first one runs in the report with the codename Yahoo! Boys and adheres to traditional fraudulent schemes, which feature a certain Nigerian prince or lawyer. The fraudster asks for assistance from the victim in transferring a large sum of money, promising to give her the whole amount, except for the stipulated interest.

In addition, Yahoo! Boys are engaged in fraud in the field of online novels, getting acquainted on deytinguovyh sites and subsequently demanding from "beloved" money for a ticket, necessary for meeting in real life.Usually scammers in the ranks of Yahoo! Boys, young (from 20 to 30 years), like to boast of their wealth in social networks and operate in small groups.Although their methods are primitive, they still bring to perpetrators a tangible profit.

Another group is more dangerous - they are "criminals of the next level", as they are called by the authors of the study. Unlike Yahoo! Boys, these scammers are older and more secretive; they tend to use more sophisticated methods and engage in BEC fraud and tax fraud. These are professionals who actively launder money through a network of droppings, and also recruit relatives in the countries where the victims are located. Such groups earn billions.

According to Interpol, the operations to catch "Nigerian scammers" are not always successful: even with Interpol's guidance, local police arrest only about 30% of criminals