Tag Archive for: fraudster

Police Arrest Nigerian Fraudster Who Stole N1.87Billion After Hacking Into Bank’s Server

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Detectives from the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested an alleged fraudster, Salau Abdulmalik Femi over N1.87 billion fraud.

The 35-year-old suspect, according to the police, is the kingpin of a syndicate that specialises in hacking into the servers of banks and corporate agencies to steal.

The police further disclosed that the suspect, who had displayed mastery of the cyber environment, was nabbed after he hacked into the Flex-Cube Universal Banking System (FCUBS) of a first generation bank.

The spokesman for the SFU, Ikoyi, Lagos, DSP Eyitayo Johnson, in a statement, said the suspect, using application software, created imaginary credits totalling N1.87 billion on the accounts of three of the bank’s customers.

Johnson said the suspect successfully completed debits (outflows) amounting to N417.5 million through internet banking transfers to other banks.

He said the unit, while acting promptly on a petition from the bank, communicated with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the deposit money banks whose customers were beneficiaries of the fraudulent funds and that in the process was able to salvage a substantial amount.

“Items recovered from the suspect include an Apple laptop and an iPhone, and he and operators of some Bureaux De Change (BDC) used to launder the monies will be charged to court as soon as an investigation is concluded.

“Consequently, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit, Anderson A. Bankole, has scheduled a meeting with Chief Compliance Officers/and Heads of Technology/Information Security departments of banks with a view to brainstorm on the loophole exploited by this suspect and how to counter similar hacks for the benefit of both the police and the banking sector of our economy,” Johnson said.

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Hushpuppi, alleged internet fraudster, named among North Korean bank hackers

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Ramon Olorunwa Abbas popular known as Hushpuppi has been linked to North Korean hackers, who have been described as the biggest bank robbers in the world.

The Instagram celebrity was linked to the North Korean hackers by The Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI.).

The Justice Department in a detailed statement released on Friday, February 19, alleged that Hushpuppi took part in a “North Korean-perpetrated cyber-enabled heist from a Maltese bank in February 2019.”

According to the statement, his role was as a collaborator with a North Korean money launderer, Ghaleb Alaumary, 37, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

“Alaumary agreed to plead guilty to the charge, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2020.

“Alaumary was a prolific money launderer for hackers engaged in ATM cash-out schemes, cyber-enabled bank heists, business email compromise (BEC) schemes, and other online fraud schemes. Alaumary is also being prosecuted for his involvement in a separate BEC scheme by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

“With respect to the North Korean co-conspirators’ activities, Alaumary organized teams of co-conspirators in the United States and Canada to launder millions of dollars obtained through ATM cash-out operations, including from BankIslami and a bank in India in 2018.

“Alaumary also conspired with Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, aka “Ray Hushpuppi,” and others to launder funds from a North Korean-perpetrated cyber-enabled heist from a Maltese bank in February 2019” the statement read

Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai in June 2020, and extradited to the US where he is being charged by the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles with conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from “business email compromise” (BEC) frauds and other scams.

His trial was to have commenced late last year, however, it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full US Justice Department statement on Hushpuppi’s alleged involvement with the three North Korean military hackers.

“A federal indictment unsealed today charges three North Korean computer programmers with participating in a wide-ranging…

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Fugitive Fraudster Who Demanded Half Of Facebook Arrested After Three Years On The Run

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It’s been a while since we last wrote about Paul Ceglia. If you don’t recall, way back in 2010, Ceglia suddenly claimed that years earlier, he had hired Mark Zuckerberg to do some software development, and bizarrely (and literally unbelievably), that part of the contract for Zuck to work on Ceglia’s project… was an agreement to hand over 50% of Facebook, which didn’t even exist yet. Making it more ridiculous, Ceglia then claimed some weird interest amounts, and therefore was demanding ownership of 84% of Facebook. The whole thing was nonsensical, and while Zuckerberg admitted he had done some work for Ceglia prior to starting Facebook, nothing about the supposed contract made any sense at all. Beyond the bizarre nature of the contract Ceglia claimed he had with Zuckerberg, it quickly became clear that other evidence Ceglia presented, including purported emails, didn’t look real.

A year later, during the discovery process in the lawsuit, the actual original contract was found and it didn’t mention Facebook at all, just as most people assumed. Instead, it became clear that Ceglia doctored their contract. Ceglia tried, weakly, to claim that even though the original was found on his computer during discovery, that it was actually Photoshopped and planted by Facebook. As you might imagine, literally no one believed that. It also probably didn’t help that he kept some of the details of his plan in an email account called GetZuck.

Finally, in 2012, Ceglia was arrested for fraud. He was set to go to trial in 2015 when he disappeared — apparently cut off his ankle bracelet and disappeared with his family. Late last week, however, it was reported that he had been found and arrested in Ecuador and was likely to be sent back to the US shortly.

I guess it’s hard to just disappear in the age of Facebook. Even if you pretend to own a giant chunk of it.

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