Interpol arrests Nigerian accused in $60 million cybercrime

LAGOS, Nigeria – Interpol says it has arrested a Nigerian accused of scamming $60 million from companies around the world through fraudulent emails.

Interpol says one target alone paid out $15.4 million.

The man, identified only as a 40-year-old called Mike, was arrested along with a 38-year-old accomplice in Nigeria’s oil capital of Port Harcourt.

An Interpol statement Monday says the man led a criminal network that compromised email accounts of small and medium-sized businesses all over the world including in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa and Thailand.

Interpol said the network involved about 40 people in Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa who provided malware and carried out the frauds, and used money-laundering accounts in China, Europe and the United States.