Nigerian Serial Scammers Were Exposed By Their Own Malware

Two Security researchers who are from Secureworks, known as James Bettke and Joe Stewart, has recently discovered a Nigerian scam ring. They were finally caught in their own web after many years of operation. The Ringleader unknowingly got his computer infected with the same malware that they were using for their victims.

This vulnerability has made it possible for the researchers to be able to monitor the ringleader for some months now. Detail information about his tools, contacts, messages, his victims and also the amount of money which they transfer were revealed, according to Bettke’s account.

A more redefined version of the Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam was employed by the said criminals. They also call it wire-wire which actually involves picking a series of random email addresses from people and attacking them with malware for them to be easily accessed. After the attack has been done, if the victim orders for anything through their email, the group quickly hijacks it and altered details are been sent to its victim. The group members are estimated to be over 30 with each of them earning close to $3 million annually.

According to a recently published report, the duo made this statement:

After the fact, it can take awhile before the customer and seller realize they’ve been scammed—often, neither buyer or seller realizes that something is amiss until the shipment or payment is overdue. Given their vantage point, Stewart and Bettke have tried to alert some businesses to the scam before the fraudulent transactions are complete, but they sometimes have a hard time persuading employees that they aren’t scammers themselves.

The EFCC is said to be aware of this recent development, and some investigations are currently ongoing.