Nigeria cracks down on cyber crime, busts 18 syndicates

Nigeria's anti-corruption police said on Friday that it had shut down some 800 scam websites and busted 18 syndicates of email fraudsters in a drive to curb cyber-crime which the country is notorious for. As many as 419 scammers were involved.

"Over 800 fraudulent e-mail addresses have been identified and shut down under 'operation eagle claw' launched last week," economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) boss Farida Waziri said.

"There have been 18 arrests of high profile syndicates operating cyber-crime organisations," she added.

In a statement, she said EFCC, which has so far relied on raiding cyber cafes and following up complaints from the public to clamp down on the crime, said it has now adopted smart technology, working in conjunction with Microsoft, to track down fraudulent emails.

Over the next eighteen months, eagle claw will work in conjunction with Microsoft to not only identify fraudulent emails, but also to contact around a quarter of million potential victims and advise them that they are corresponding with scammers, Waziri added.

Nigeria has the reputation of being the epicentre of email scammers. Eagle claw is the EFCC's first technological initiative against scammers. Observers say that while only time will tell if this new initiative will be effective, it is sure to be more efficient than simply knocking on cyber café doors.