EFCC Arrests 30 Internet Fraud Suspects in Abuja

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has taken 30 people into custody on Internet Fraud suspicion.

The suspects were caught on June 14 in the Abuja suburbs of Lugbe and Kubwa, where there was strong evidence that they were involved in online fraud.

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Among those suspected: Obazee Destiny, Oloton Kenneth, Emmanuel Patrick, Cobirevwhe Lucky, Wisdom Chinedu Okeke, Emmanuel Obiajulu Okafor, Chime Gabriel, Uchime Gabriel, Usenbor Aghosa Austin, Precious Osayi, Salman Abdullahi, Iseri Ochuko, and Okator Emeka are among those suspected.

Others are Usehbor Eghosa Auhin, Chime Gabriel Onyebuchi, Amas Randy Ehingiator, Osabee Jerry Olabor, Wisdom Usenbor, Etaga Uyuoma, Perokri Destiny, Chime Stephen, Eneome Daniel, Eneh Chukwuemeka, Kennet Okoduwa, Eze Nwaennezie Samuel, Igbinomwanhia Esosa, Igbinomwanhia Miracle, Olajiar Victor, Ekeainya Confidence, Akpa Anthony Somtochukwu and Abubakar Mohammed.

Automobiles by Mercedes Benz, Lexus, and Toyota, as well as mobile phones and laptop computers, were among the items recovered.

Wilson Uwujaren, who is in charge of media and public relations, said that the suspects will be charged in court as soon as the investigation is done.

What you need to know about Internet Fraud

The use of online services and software with an internet connection to swindle or exploit victims is known as internet fraud. Online fraud is any type of cybercrime that happens over the internet or through email. This includes identity theft, phishing, and other hacking activities that try to steal money from people.

Every year, millions of dollars in fraudulent activity are generated by internet scams that target victims through online services. As more people use the internet and cybercriminals get better at what they do, the numbers will keep going up.

State and federal laws are used to punish internet fraud. For example, the relevant statute, 18 U.S.C. 1343, covers general cyber fraud and can result in a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million, depending on the seriousness of the offence.

Anti-phishing, credit card fraud, illegal computer access, and identity theft legislation are also in place in states like California. The Anti-Phishing Act of 2005 also makes it illegal to pretend to be a company on the internet in order to get personally identifiable information (PII) from people.

The Different Types of Internet Fraud

To commit internet fraud, cyber thieves employ a range of attack channels and tactics. Malicious software, email and instant messaging services that spread malware, fake websites that steal user information, and complex, widespread phishing scams are all examples.

There are various forms of attacks that can be classified as internet fraud, including:

Phishing and spoofing are methods of duping people into giving personal information, login credentials, and financial information over email and online messaging services.

A data breach is known as stealing secret, protected, or sensitive data from a secure location and transferring it to an untrustworthy environment. This contains information taken from users and businesses.

Denial of service (DoS) is the act of stopping traffic to an online service, system, or network with bad intentions.

Malware is bad software that is used to damage or disable users’ devices and steal sensitive information.

Ransomware is a sort of software that restricts users from accessing important data and then demands payment in exchange for access to be restored. Phishing assaults are the most common way for ransomware to spread.

Business email compromise (BEC) is a sophisticated type of assault that targets companies that make a lot of wire transfers. It uses tricks to trick people into giving it access to their real email accounts so it can make illegal payments.

To avoid hacker attempts at internet fraud, users need to know about the most common types and ways of internet fraud.

Phishing E-mail Scams

Phishing schemes based on email are one of the most common types of online fraud, and they continue to pose a severe threat to both individuals and organizations.

According to Security Boulevard, phishing attacks will account for 22% of all data breaches in 2020, and spear phishing will account for 95% of all assaults targeting business networks. Furthermore, 97 percent of users are unable to recognize a sophisticated phishing email. Meanwhile, 1.5 million new phishing sites are generated every month, and 78 percent of users are aware of the dangers of clicking hyperlinks in emails but still do so.

Phishing scams based on email are continually changing, ranging from simple attacks to more sophisticated threats that target specific people.

In email phishing schemes, cyber criminals impersonate someone their target knows or would consider trustworthy. The goal of the attack is to get individuals to click on a link that takes them to a malicious or faked website that appears to be legitimate, or to open an attachment that contains malicious software.

The hacker either compromises or builds a false website. They then compile a list of email addresses to target and send out an email message that attempts to trick users into visiting the website by including a link to it. When a victim follows the link, they are brought to a fake website that will either ask for a username and password or will automatically download malware onto their computer, stealing data and login credentials. The hacker can use this information to get into the user’s online accounts, steal more information like credit card numbers, connect to business networks through the device, or commit identity fraud in general.

Attackers of email phishing scams frequently demand immediate action from their victims. This includes telling them that their credit card or online account is in danger and that they need to log in right away to fix the problem.

Scams on Greeting Cards

Many internet fraud attacks target people who celebrate major occasions in order to defraud them. Birthdays, Christmas, and Easter are just a few examples of holidays that are widely commemorated by sending greeting cards to friends and family by email. Hackers usually take advantage of this by putting malicious software in an email greeting card. When the greeting card is opened, the malicious software downloads and installs on the device of the recipient.

The ramifications can be disastrous. The infection may cause obnoxious pop-up advertising, which can degrade program performance and cause the device to slow down. A more concerning outcome would be the theft of the victim’s personal and financial information as well as the use of their computer as a bot within a massive network of infected machines known as a botnet.

Scams involving credit cards

Hackers commit credit card fraud when they steal people’s credit or debit card information and use it to steal money or buy things.

Internet scammers frequently employ too-good-to-be-true credit card or bank loan offers to entice victims into divulging their personal information. A victim may, for example, get a message from their bank informing them that they are eligible for a special loan deal or that a large sum of money has been made available to them as a loan. Even though most people know that offers like this are too good to be true for a reason, people still fall for them.

Scams in Online Dating

Another common type of internet fraud is the use of a variety of online dating apps and websites. Hackers target these apps in order to persuade victims to donate money and share personal information with new love partners. Scammers usually make fake profiles to get in touch with people, build a relationship with them, gain their trust, make up a story, and ask for money.

Fraudulent Lottery Fees

Email scams that claim victims have won the lottery are another widespread type of internet fraud. The receivers of these frauds will be told that they may only claim their prize after paying a modest fee.

Despite the fact that lottery fee scammers construct emails to look and sound legitimate, many individuals fall for the con. The con preys on people’s fantasies of winning large sums of money, even if they have never bought a lottery ticket. Also, winners of a real lottery program will never have to pay a fee to get their prize.

The Nigerian Prince

Even though more people know about it, the Nigerian Prince scam is still common and profitable.

The hoax is based on the idea of a wealthy Nigerian family or individual who wishes to share their fortune in exchange for help accessing their inheritance. It employs phishing techniques to send emails outlining an emotional narrative before luring victims in with the promise of a large financial payoff. The scam usually starts with a small fee to help with legal processes and paperwork, and then a large sum of money is promised later.

The fraudster will almost certainly demand more payments to cover additional administration chores and transaction costs, which will be backed up by official-looking confirmation documents. The promised return on investment, on the other hand, never materializes.

How to Avoid Being Scammed on the Internet

By being attentive to the common types of internet fraud outlined above, internet users can defend themselves and prevent being trapped in a phishing line. Never give money to someone you met on the internet, never share personal or financial information with strangers, and never click on URLs or attachments in emails or instant messages.Online scammers and phishing emails should be reported to the police by people who get them.

Keep a tight eye on bank accounts, set up credit card activity notifications, sign up for credit monitoring, and use consumer protection programs to avoid credit card theft. Users must report credit card fraud to the appropriate legal authorities and credit bureaus.

How Can Fortinet Assist?

With technologies that help stop attack vectors like ransomware and phishing, Fortinet protects consumers and companies from internet fraud.

FortiMail from Fortinet includes powerful antispam and anti-malware protection, as well as innovative approaches such as content disarming and reconstruction, impersonation detection, outbreak protection, and sandbox analysis. Its Web Filtering solution improves the web filtering capabilities of FortiGate next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) by categorizing billions of websites into larger groups that users can allow or block. FortiEDR solutions also use anti-malware, machine learning, and behavior-based detection to reduce the attack surfaces of businesses and keep their devices safe.

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