US Announces Arrests in Ghanian Fraud Schemes

Eight individuals in the US and Ghana are charged with stealing more than $15 million through computer-based fraud.

Operation Keyboard Warrior, an effort coordinated by the US Department of Justice, has announced the arrest of eight individuals in the US and Ghana in relation to an ongoing, Africa-based cyber conspiracy that allegedly defrauded US companies and citizens of approximately $15 million since at least 2012.

The indictment alleges that the co-conspirators committed a series of intrusions into the servers and email systems of a Memphis-based real estate company in June and July 2016. Using anonymization techniques, the co-conspirators identified large financial transactions, initiated fraudulent email correspondence with relevant business parties, and then redirected closing funds through a network of US-based money mules to final destinations in Africa. This caused hundreds of thousands in losses to companies and individuals in Memphis.

In addition to the Memphis frauds, some of the Africa-based defendants are also charged with various romance scams, fraudulent-check scams, gold-buying scams, advance-fee scams, and credit-card scams.

The FBI led the investigation, with assistance from various US law enforcement agencies, INTERPOL, and Ghanian law enforcement agencies.

For more, read here.

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