By RFIPosted on 11-09-2019Modified on 11-09-2019 at 15:56

A large operation was revealed Tuesday, September 10 by the US Department of Justice and the Nigerian authorities: nearly 300 cybercriminals have been arrested since May 2019. The majority of them were arrested in Nigeria, one of the countries most affected by cybercrime.

Of the 281 people arrested, 167 were in Nigeria. Other African countries were also concerned, such as Ghana and Kenya. The operation was conducted by the FBI and the police of the countries concerned. It was mainly aimed at scammers specializing in credit fraud. Fraud with a standard operating mode: infiltrate corporate networks by pretending to be a senior executive and asking employees to transfer money to accounts abroad.

A total of $ 3.7 million was seized according to US authorities. This operation was made possible by cooperation between the United States and Nigeria to fight against cybercrime.

Nigeria is one of the most important foci of cybercriminals on the African continent. Everything began in the late 1990s, with the 419 fraud, the name of the article of law that sanctions it. You may have already been confronted. These are the emails in which the author asks the recipient to help him transfer a large amount of money to another account.

He promises a counterparty in exchange, but asks the recipient to advance money in the meantime. Obviously, the money transfer never takes place, and the victim is never reimbursed for the amount she has advanced.

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These scams are carried out by "Yahoo boys", the nickname given to young Nigerians who send these fraudulent emails. Since the 1990s, they have perfected their phishing techniques. Despite the efforts to counter cybercrime, it would cost the country nearly $ 350 million annually, according to the Nigeria Cybersecurity Experts Association.

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