TVC E. A Nigerian behind thousands of online scams around the world has been arrested in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, Interpol alleges.
The 40-year-old man, known only as “Mike” is alleged to head a network of 40 individuals behind global scams worth more than $60m (£45m).
His operations involved using malware to take over systems to compromise emails, as well as romance scams.
Nigeria’s anti-fraud agency was also involved in the arrest.
“In one case, a target was conned into paying out $15.4 m (£11m),” Interpol said in a statement.
“Mike” also allegedly ran a money laundering network in China, Europe and the US.
“The network compromised email accounts of small to medium-sized businesses around the world including in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the United States,” it said.
They would then send fake messages to buyers with instructions to make a payment to a bank account under their control.
The other strategy they used was to take over the email account of a high-level executive and give instructions to transfer money into a bank account they controlled.
The suspect and an accomplice, who was also arrested in the city, face charges including hacking, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences.
They are currently out on bail as investigations continue, the statement said.
