Interpol Trails 500,000 Euros COVID-19 Scam To Nigeria

The International Criminal Police Organisation, also known as INTERPOL, has followed a sum of €500,000 meant to procure face masks to Nigeria.

A statement published on its website and obtained by Eko Hot Blog said the scheme was coordinated using compromised emails, advance-payment fraud, and money laundering.

According to the statement, the fraud was uncovered by financial institutions and authorities across Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, as part of a case coordinated by INTERPOL.

INTERPOL said as a number of countries were going into lockdown in mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak, German health authorities contracted two sales companies in Zurich and Hamburg to procure €15 million worth of face masks.

Read also: Interpol Raises Alarm Over Fake COVID-19 Vaccine Supply

“It all started with an email address and website which appeared to be linked to a legitimate company in Spain selling face masks. Unbeknownst to the buyers, the site was a fake and their legitimate email addresses had been compromised,” the statement read partly.

It added: “When the buyers realized they had been duped, they immediately contacted their bank in Germany, which in turn contacted INTERPOL’s Financial Crimes unit, setting off a race to intercept the funds and follow the money trail.

“The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service quickly tracked down the €880,000 which had been transferred from the German company. Nearly €500,000 of those funds had already been sent to the United Kingdom, all of which was destined for an account in Nigeria.”