Police in Nigeria have cracked a gang of cybercriminals that allegedly hacked into an old-generation bank (name withheld) stealing a whopping sum of N523,337,100.00 in one day.
Detectives at Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), where the case of cyber-attack is being investigated, said they have stepped up the manhunt for other members of the syndicate who are at large.
According Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), PSFU, SP. Eyitayo Johnson, the fraudsters hit the bank of N523,337,100.00 using the accounts of 18 different customers and dissipated same via Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Cash/ATM/POS/Withdrawals and e-transfers.
“The Legal Section of the Police PSFU, Ikoyi-Lagos; headed by CSP. E. A. Jackson has successfully obtained an order of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for the Preservation/Forfeiture/Attachment of a net sum of N523,337,100.00 fraudulently transferred by internet fraudsters who hacked a customer’s account domiciled in one of the old-generation banks and posted the funds into 18 different accounts in the same Bank before transmitting same to 225 other accounts in 22 banks/financial institutions.
“The coordinated cyber-attack was carried out during the weekend of Saturday, April 23, 2022, through Sunday, April 24, 2022, to the early hours of Monday, April 24, 2022, before the business opened.
“In the course of the investigation, the sum of N160,287,071.47 has been recovered from different banks; with two suspects arrested, while operatives are following other leads in order to apprehend the remaining members of the syndicate”.
He said the two suspects would be charged to Court as soon as investigations are finalised. Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Anyasinti Josephine Nneka, has advised banks and financial institutions on the need to increase their cyber-security surveillance, and conduct routine background checks on staff who have login privileges that could be compromised to make banks porous to cyber-attacks.