By Adenike Lawal
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), through its National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the United States Secret Service, has arrested three suspected cyber fraud operators in Lagos and Edo states.
Police said the suspects were allegedly involved in targeted cyber intrusions on the email systems of major corporate organisations, mainly within Nigeria, exposing several institutions to financial and data losses.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed in a statement on Thursday that the suspects deployed phishing links and malicious software to compromise victims’ accounts.
According to the statement, the arrests followed actionable intelligence from Microsoft Corporation, working with the FBI, which uncovered the use of an advanced phishing toolkit known as RaccoonO365.
The toolkit was designed to create fake Microsoft login pages to harvest users’ credentials.
Hundeyin explained that the scheme enabled unauthorised access to Microsoft 365 email accounts belonging to corporate, financial and educational institutions, resulting in business email compromise and data breaches across multiple jurisdictions.
He said the NPF-NCCC subsequently launched an intelligence-led operation with support from Microsoft, the FBI and the US Secret Service.
Investigations traced several cases of unauthorised Microsoft 365 account access between January and September 2025 to phishing emails crafted to mimic genuine Microsoft authentication portals.
Operatives were deployed to Lagos and Edo states, where the three suspects were arrested.
Searches of their residences led to the recovery of laptops, mobile phones and other digital devices, which forensic analysis linked to the alleged fraud.
Police identified one Okitipi Samuel, also known as “RaccoonO365” and “Moses Felix,” as the alleged mastermind behind the phishing infrastructure.
He was said to have operated a Telegram channel selling phishing links for cryptocurrency and hosting fake login portals on Cloudflare using stolen credentials.
Investigators, however, noted that there is currently no evidence linking the other two suspects to the development or management of the phishing scheme.
The NPF reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s digital space through advanced technology, international cooperation and rigorous investigation and prosecution of cybercrime.