Interpol on Monday announced the arrest of three Nigerians accused on using the Agent Tesla remote access trojan (RAT) in financial scams.
The scammers allegedly used the malware to reroute financial transactions and steal confidential data, including connection information from oil and gas organizations in South East Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
One of the individuals, identified as Hendrix Omorume, has been indicted and convicted, and faces a 12-month prison sentence, Interpol said. The other two defendants are still on trial.
The three were arrested in a sting operation the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) conducted simultaneously in Lagos and in Benin City, as part of a global operation called Killer Bee, which involved law enforcement agencies in 11 South Asian countries.
The arrests were made after the Interpol published a cyber report linking a Nigerian fraud syndicate to the use of Agent Tesla.
Interpol helped with the examination of laptops and phones that the EFCC seized during the arrests, confirming that the individuals had systematically used Agent Tesla to access victim computers and reroute financial transactions.
When arrested, the three allegedly had in their possession fake documents, including forged official letters and fraudulent invoices.
“The enforcement actions led by Nigeria and coordinated with Interpol send a clear message that cybercrime will have serious repercussions for those involved in business email compromise fraud, particularly in Nigeria,” said EFCC’s Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol.
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