US Arrests Dozens In Connection To Large Scale Email Scam

The U.S. government on Monday announced the arrest of dozens of people across several countries in connection with an elaborate, and profitable, email scam ring. According to the Department of Justice, a total of 74 people were arrested after a months-long investigation into the scams, which targeted both businesses and individuals.

The arrests were spread out over five countries, with 42 coming from the U.S. alone, the DOJ said in a press release. Twenty-nine were arrested in Nigeria and three others came from Poland, Canada and Mauritius.

The DOJ calls such financial cyber threats “Business Email Compromise,” or BEC, which mostly involves soliciting fraudulent wire transfers. Perpetrators often pretend to be someone connected to the victim and ask for money to be transferred to an account that actually belongs to the cyber thieves.

According to the DOJ, this all started in Nigeria, but has spread throughout the world. More than $3.7 billion in funds have been reported lost over the years due to email scams. The DOJ, along with several other federal agencies, started the crackdown in January. Aside from the 74 arrests, the agencies recovered around $14 million in wire transfers and seized $2.4 million, according to the press release.

“We will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners around the world to end these fraud schemes and protect the hard-earned assets of our citizens,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “The public we serve deserves nothing less.”

Aside from businesses, these types of email scams often target the elderly. Phishing is another kind of online scam, in which criminals impersonate trustworthy sources like companies or loved ones and beg for money, lest something bad happen to them.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team recommends staying away from links in emails, avoiding suspicious attachments and making good use of a spam filter to avoid email scams.