BREAKING NEWS, Business
–
Cyber attackers breach the security of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s email account, send email which purportedly originated from Godwin Emefiele, its governor and triggering a chain of fraud connecting First Bank, Unity Bank, Keystone bank and another one in Dubai
| By Maureen Chigbo |
FOR the first time in the history of the Central Bank of Nigeria, cyber attackers managed to hack into the official email account of Godwin Emefiele, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, triggering a chain of sophisticated fraud involving a bank in Dubai and three Nigerian banks.
The hackers targeted the governor’s email after he had travelled to China enroute to Dubai in February. Between February 18 and 19, the cyber attackers use the breached governor’s email to send an email to Joseph Nnanna, deputy governor, Financial System Surveilance, FSS, during which they exchange pleasantries. Thinking that the email was from the governor, Nnanna replied giving him a brief of what was going on in the bank and the country.
The scammers still pretending to be the governor then sent another email to Nnanna, asking him to confirm if a one day transfer of money from Abuja to Dubai was possible. According to a source at the bank, Nnanna made enquiries from Trade and Exchange Department and found out that it was doable and replied the email purportedly sent by the governor that it was possible. Then another message through the hacked governor’s email requesting for a transfer of $441,000 for payment of cars he bought while in Dubai, along with the beneficiary’s bank details was sent to the deputy governor, FSS. Nnanna forwarded the email to the acting director governor’s department because the substantive director was not in the office.
Realnews gathered that this transaction which started at about 9.30 am when the request was made was concluded by around 5pm on the fateful day.
Having succeeded in scamming the bank the first time, the cyber attackers got greedy and sent more mails through the governor’s email for transfer of more funds to banks in Nigeria namely First Bank ($200 million) Unity Bank (150 Million) and Keystone banks ($150 million).
This request triggered suspicion on the part of the Central Bank officials. Besides, the governor on his return said that he did not send any email requesting for any payment. The CBN officials along with security personnel then set a trap for the scammers by liaising with the managing director of the three banks, asking them to send false alert to the scammers that the money has been sent. Security officials were also alerted to watch out for people who will come to pick up the money in the banks.
“The money was not sent. We wanted to trap them by sending them false alert. When they went to Unity Bank, they were apprehended. When they went to Keystone Bank, they were apprehended. The person who went to First Bank was smarter as they issued a cheque to one person to cash for them. All the criminals have been apprehended. One of them who was caught in Abuja, was wearing charms,” a source told Realnews on Monday, March 14.
Realnews learnt that the CBN has been able to get back $251,000 out of the $441,000. The bank is still working to get back $190,000 from the Dubai bank.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari when he got wind of fraud directed that all those connected with the scam transaction should go on suspension to allow for unfettered investigation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on March 14, made clarifications on the suspension of some of its personnel following the fraud uncovered and aborted by the Bank last week, in Abuja.
Answering questions from journalists in Abuja, Isaac Okorafor, bank’s acting director, Corporate Communications Department, explained that the affected personnel suspended by the management had to undergo that administrative procedure because they handled the routine processing of the said payment.
Okorafor, who reiterated that preliminary investigations so far had not revealed any accomplice within the Bank, noted that management had to suspend the officers in order to allow unfettered investigation into the matter.
It will be recalled that the CBN in a statement last week, stated that the bank had uncovered and aborted a highly sophisticated plot to defraud the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, by some criminal minded elements.
The statement, which was also signed by Okorafor disclosed that the CBN management decided to place all key personnel involved in the transaction on suspension and had reported the matter to relevant authorities. The CBN, in the statement, also assured the public that the security of the bank remained intact.
The Central Bank of Nigeria is not the only bank in the world to have been hacked by cyber attackers. Realnews reports that major financial institutions in the country and in the world are becoming vulnerable to cybercrime. For instance, the Central Bank of Bangladesh lost $100 million to cyber attackers recently.
— Mar 15, 2016 @ 9:40 GMT
|
Tags:
