Yahoo Boys-Digital organized crime group
Interpol, together with Trend Micro, calculated the losses of Western companies from the actions of "Nigerian" scammers and concluded that in recent years, the attackers have become adept at the subtleties of BEC fraud and in three years have got hold of more than $3 billion.
The point of BEC fraud is to send out plausible-looking invoices and memos, with the help of which criminals deceive employees to transfer funds to fake accounts. In addition, such emails may be infected with malicious keyloggers.
BEC fraud is becoming a major problem for businesses: last year, the FBI reported losses of a billion dollars in the United States alone. It is known that some victims lost tens of millions of dollars at a time, such as the Austrian company FACC, which lost more than $54 million.
The report also indicates that West African fraudsters are improving their skills and are already able to conduct complex and sophisticated operations. Interpol notes a high level of proficiency in social engineering techniques, which, combined with a rich malicious toolkit, allow "Nigerians" to successfully implement their schemes.
The rapid rise of online crime in West Africa can be explained by the presence of education and motive. Almost half of the region's university graduates are out of work for a year, and their attraction to the criminal underworld is growing by the month. Cybercrime has even become a religion in Ghana, where its adherents worship and offer sacrifices to a deity named Sakawa, which is designed to prevent the disclosure of fraudulent schemes and ensure a good profit.
The Interpol study also provides a detailed description of the two largest fraud groups in the region. The first one takes place in the report under the code name Yahoo! Boys and adheres to traditional fraud schemes involving a certain Nigerian prince or lawyer. The fraudster asks for the victim's assistance in transferring a large amount of money, promising to give her the entire amount, with the exception of the agreed percentage.
Also, Yahoo! Boys are engaged in fraud in the field of online novels, getting acquainted on dating sites and subsequently demanding money from their "lovers" for a ticket needed to meet in real life. Usually scammers who are in the ranks of Yahoo! Boys, young (20 to 30 years old), like to brag about their wealth in social networks and operate in small groups. Although their methods are primitive, they still bring significant profit to attackers.
The other group is more dangerous — these are "next-level criminals", as the authors of the study call them. Unlike Yahoo! Boys, these scammers are older and more secretive; they tend to use more sophisticated methods and engage in BEC fraud and tax refund fraud. These are professionals who actively launder money through a network of drops, as well as recruit relatives in the countries where the victims are located. Such groups earn billions.
According to Interpol, operations to catch "Nigerian fraudsters" are not always successful: even with a tip from Interpol, local police only arrest about 30% of criminals.
• Source:
www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/10/interpol_study_nigerian_princes_raking_in_billions/
----
Ukrainian bride paid 200 thousand UAH for a non-existent parcel from the "American general"
The Ukrainian woman met on the social network Instagram with a representative man who introduced himself as a general of the US armed forces. Between them, communication began, which promised to lead to further development of relations.
The general explained to the newly-made lady of the heart that, on duty, he is in Syria, but will soon come to her in Ukraine. However, due to the difficulties associated with crossing the border, it will be difficult for him to carry a large bag of money and some personal documents.
The general said that he would send these items to Ukraine by mail and asked the woman to get a package for him. And as a thank you, he promised to put a gift in the package - jewelry. The woman agreed, and the American sent the bill of lading number to track the parcel, which was sent by the Zenith Global Logistics courier service.
After some time, the Ukrainian bride received a call from an unknown person, who introduced herself as a dispatcher at Boryspil airport, who reported that the parcel had arrived in Ukraine. And after that, the woman received an email from the diplomatic delivery service that to receive the parcel unopened, it is necessary to pay customs duty, as well as various other types of fees, with a total cost of more than 200 thousand hryvnia. For payment, the bank details were specified, which turned out to be bank card numbers.
Worried, the Ukrainian turned to her American fiance and explained the situation. But he assured that the situation was absolutely normal, and began to beg to be sure to get a parcel with important documents and money. The general promised that he would definitely compensate all expenses upon arrival in Ukraine. Believing, the woman managed to collect the necessary amount and paid all expenses.
However, the package never arrived. The woman tried to contact the people who worked with her to pay for the parcel, but their phones were not answered. It was also not possible to check the fate of the parcel via the courier service's website, as it no longer worked. Moreover, its address (zenitglobal.net) turned out to be a fake, which was only 1 letter different from the official address zenithglobal.com. The "general" himself also turned out to be a fake – his photos were borrowed by unknown people from the profiles of dating sites.
In the framework of the criminal case initiated on the fact of fraud (No. 12019120020009385 ERDR), law enforcement officers found out that a large number of other payments, amounting to tens and hundreds of thousands of hryvnias, were received on the bank cards where the victim transferred money. And criminal proceedings have also been opened on some of them.
During searches conducted at the owners of fraudulent accounts, the police found a large number of bank cards of front persons (drops). One of the drops detained by law enforcement officers admitted that he opened the card at the request of a suspect of African-American appearance, for whom he received and cashed out money for a commission fee.
ATM surveillance footage confirmed that the fraudulently obtained money was withdrawn by a black man. At the moment, law enforcement officers are trying to find out the identity of the suspect.
The investigation continues.
------
There are several cybercrime groups in Nigeria, and their members combine new technologies with occult practices and believe that sacrifice increases the chances of success.
For Nigerians, cyber fraud is akin to hunting, they perceive it as one of the ways to earn money.
The Nigerian cyber group calls itself Yahoo yahoo. Firstly, it sounds quite African, and secondly, the first spam was sent by Nigerians through the Yahoo service. The members of this group are called Yahoo boys, and their strategy related to religious rites is Yahoo plus.
The Nigerian police do not risk contacting Yahoo yahoo, because law enforcement officers themselves believe in black magic and believe that they should not quarrel with shamans and sorcerers. However, in 2018, several yahuboi were detained, and the materials of the investigation revealed information about how their rituals are performed. In addition to computers and SIM cards, talismans, amulets, potions, weapons, coffins, parts of human bodies, whole corpses and other artifacts that were used in rituals were seized.
For example, Yahoo boys believe that to gain complete control over the victim's mind, it is necessary to perform a Voodoo ritual: a cyber warrior makes an incision on the tongue and hand, which lies on a keyboard or mouse, and his feet stand on a live turtle. It is believed that the turtle helps to increase the speed of the Internet, and the incisions will create spiritual channels that will convince the victim to tell everything they are asked about.
----
The Yahoo Boys fraud syndicate continues to actively use social networks to coordinate its actions, despite the platforms ' efforts to combat criminal activity. According to an analysis by WIRED, thousands of West African scammers are active on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok and YouTube, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Specialized groups discuss various fraud schemes, including extortion, sextorshen (blackmail through intimate photos and videos) and the use of fake accounts. Special attention is being paid to the sale of blackmail scripts and photos, which causes serious concern among cybersecurity experts.
Yahoo Boys do not hide their activities. Many groups use "Yahoo Boys" in their name, as well as other related terms. WIRED's analysis revealed 16 Yahoo Boys Facebook groups with nearly 200,000 members, 12 WhatsApp channels, about 10 Telegram channels, 20 TikTok accounts, 12 YouTube profiles, and more than 80 Scribd scripts. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The non-profit organization Advocating Against Romance Scammers emphasizes that scammers use real names and openly operate on platforms, which actually provides them with "free office space" for their activities.
Over the years, Yahoo Boys has engaged in various types of scams, including romance scam and BEC. However, recently criminals have started actively using deepfakes to create pornographic images and fake video calls, which further increases the threat.
The Yahoo Boys Syndicate is an organization of thousands of scammers who work individually or in groups. The origin of organized crime groups is often attributed to Nigeria. The name "Yahoo Boys" comes from the fact that scammers used to target users of Yahoo services. It is worth noting that Yahoo Boys is not a single organized group: groups in West Africa often gather in various fraternities.
Experts call on social media and law enforcement agencies to take Yahoo Boys ' activities more seriously, considering them as a dangerous, transnational organized criminal group. Especially troubling is their role in the spread of sextorshen, which leads to deplorable tragedies among adolescents.
Despite companies efforts to remove such accounts and groups, new Yahoo Boys communities continue to emerge, highlighting the need to strengthen measures to control and prevent such activities on social media platforms.
• Source:
https://www.wired.com/story/yahoo-boys-scammers-facebook-telegram-tiktok-youtube/
----
Meta has announced a massive clean-up of fraudulent Instagram accounts linked to financial scams. Over the years, Yahoo Boys has engaged in various types of scams, including romance scam, sextortion, and BEC – this campaign is no exception.
Some 63,000 accounts in Nigeria that targeted users to extort money were targeted. Among the deleted accounts, a coordinated set of 2,500 accounts linked to a group of 20 people was identified. Scammers mainly attacked adult men from the United States, hiding their identities behind fake accounts. In cases where scammers targeted minors, Meta passed on information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
In addition, Meta removed 7,200 assets, including 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 pages and 5,700 groups, also based in Nigeria, that provided instructions on how to conduct fraudulent activities, as well as links to photo collections to create fake accounts. The second group of scammers Meta linked to the cybercrime group Yahoo Boys, which attracted attention at the beginning of the year due to the organization of sextorshen attacks on teenagers from Australia, Canada and the United States.
Meta has already banned the activities of Yahoo Boys as part of its policy to crack down on dangerous organizations and individuals. This means that accounts associated with these cybercriminals are deleted as soon as they become known.
