Police, US secret service, FBI arrest suspects in Nigeria over fraudĀ 

The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, NPF–NCCC in collaboration with the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and the US Secret Service have arrested three high-profile internet fraud suspects in Lagos and Edo State.

The suspects were allegedly involved in targeted cyber-attacks against the email systems of major corporate organisations mostly in Nigeria.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, said the suspects carry out the crimes ā€œthrough the deployment of phishing links and malicious softwareā€.

The statement noted that the arrest followed credible and actionable intelligence received from Microsoft Corporation, FBI, which revealed the ā€œuse of a sophisticated phishing toolkit known as RaccoonO365ā€.

The Force PRO said the toolkit was designed to create fraudulent Microsoft login portals aimed at harvesting user credentials and unlawfully accessing the email platforms of corporate, financial, and educational institutions.

He said, ā€œConsequently, the NPF–NCCC initiated a coordinated, intelligence-driven operation in collaboration with Microsoft, the FBI, and the United States Secret Service.

ā€œInvestigations traced multiple incidents of unauthorised Microsoft 365 account access between January and September 2025 to phishing emails crafted to closely mimic legitimate Microsoft authentication pages.

ā€œThese activities resulted in business email compromise, data breaches, and financial losses across multiple jurisdictions.

ā€œActing on precise and actionable intelligence, NPF–NCCC operatives were deployed to Lagos and Edo States, leading to the arrest of three suspects.

ā€œSearch operations conducted at their residences resulted in the recovery of laptops, mobile devices, and other digital equipment, which have been linked to the fraudulent scheme after forensic analysis.

ā€œFurther investigations identified Okitipi Samuel, also known as ā€œRaccoonO365ā€ and ā€œMoses Felix,ā€ as the principal suspect and developer of the phishing infrastructure.

ā€œInvestigations reveal that he operated a Telegram channel through which phishing links were sold in exchange for cryptocurrency and hosted fraudulent login portals on Cloudflare using stolen or fraudulently obtained email credentials.

ā€œNotably, investigations revealed no evidence linking the two other arrested individuals to the creation or operation of the phishing scheme.

ā€œThe Nigeria Police Force reaffirms its steadfast commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s digital space through the deployment of advanced technology, strengthened international partnerships, and diligent investigative and prosecutorial processes aimed at effectively countering evolving cyber threatsā€.

Police, US secret service, FBI arrest suspects in Nigeria over fraud

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