Ghanaian Influencer Arrested for Romance Scam; Attempted EswatiniBank Hack for E140 Million; Anonymous Sudan Attempts to Hack Israel's Rocket Warning System
and more infosec stories from Africa.
CybAfriqué is a weekly newsletter that provides comprehensive coverage of news and analysis on cyber, data, and information security across the African continent.
Ghanaian Influencer Arrested for Romance Scams
Mona Faiz Montrage, a 30-year-old Ghanaian influencer known as Hajia4Reall, was extradited to the U.S. for her alleged involvement in a West African criminal enterprise that carried out various types of fraud. Montrage is accused of controlling accounts that received over $2 million in illegal proceeds from the criminal group. Additionally, she orchestrated a fake marriage with one of her victims and received around $89,000 through 82 wire transfers.
Montrage was arrested in the United Kingdom in November and extradited to the United States on May 12. She is yet to face a judge, but according to the U.S. Justice Department, she could potentially face up to 20 years in prison.
Montrage's case sheds light on the significant role female members play in cyber fraud schemes, particularly romance scams. These women often pose as potential love interests, engaging in intimate conversations and establishing emotional connections through calls and real-time interactions. Their involvement adds credibility and believability to the scams, as victims may perceive female scammers as less likely to engage in deceitful activities.
Attempted EswatiniBank Hack for E140 Million
Unknown individuals recently attempted one of the largest hacks in Eswatini by breaching the systems of EswatiniBank and transferring approximately E140 million to different accounts. Subsequently, the hackers proceeded to withdraw money from the bank's ATMs throughout the country. Although the bank initially kept the incident confidential to prevent the scammers from covering their tracks, around E700,000 had already been withdrawn by the time the fraud was discovered.
The bank's Executive Manager of Operations confirmed the hacking incident and ongoing investigation. An anonymous source who spoke to The Times of Swaziland suggested suspicions of an inside job, with the possibility of some bank employees being arrested, similar to a previous incident involving Eswatini Post and Telecommunications Corporation in 2019.
The bank's 2019/2020 report also acknowledges the challenge of overseeing cyber risks and mentions a surge in requests for assistance from government institutions regarding investigations related to fraud and financial crimes. As a result, at least five companies and nine individuals had their bank accounts frozen due to the fraudulent activities.
Anonymous Sudan's Attempted Hack on Israel's Rocket Warning System
Around the same time that hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel few days ago, Anonymous Sudan, a threat group claiming to be Sudanese but suspected to be Russian, took to their Telegram Channel to boast about hacking into the Israeli rocket warning system.
Israeli authorities says the attack had no effect on the infrastructure, but these development raises concerns about potential collaboration between the group and Palestinian militants, and further complicates the political dynamics for all parties involved.
Big Picture Stuff
Unlike other foreign institutions that mainly focus on disinformation campaigns and employ gray or outrightly illegal approaches to control information, China has taken a different approach. China has invested heavily in institutional methods, including funding media programs, exporting media content, pursuing ownership and influence in African media houses, and selling technological tools to African governments. Dr. Bob Wekesa asserts that this approach allows China to exert influence and shape narratives among African audiences.
In Botswana, individuals fell victim to a ponzi scheme disguised as an investment in solar production, development, and design. The perpetrators misled members by claiming to invest their money in Ecoplexus, an actual U.S. company, but instead funneled the funds into a ponzi scheme. TechCabal published a detailed report on the Ecoplexus ponzi scheme scam, which resulted in the loss of millions for the people of Botswana.
Andreas Fink, a telecom entrepreneur who was once critical of the security state, has switched sides and become involved in the surveillance industry by dealing in vulnerabilities and gaining access to telecom backends. Fink has collaborated with various entities, including those in Africa. A comprehensive investigation conducted by the Lighthouse Reports, published across four media houses, delves deeper into this matter.
In order to curb crime and kidnappings in Nigeria, authorities suspended unregistered sim cards. Airtel, one of the country’s leading telcos, is counting a revenue loss of $110. Bloomberg has a fuller story.
Online spaces have provided an avenue for activists and advocates, but are increasingly becoming dangerous for women, by TechCabal.
Headlines:
How Nigerians Used Fake Documents to Wire Funds from Kenya to Citibank- Business Daily Africa
South Africa Records 600% Increase in Fraud Cases in Four Years - TechCabal
Monitoring Organizations Report Widespread Internet Outages in Sudan, Pakistan - The Record
Guinea’s interim government orders fresh internet shutdown ahead of 2-day anti-govt protest - CNN
AU partners with GFCE on cybersecurity - Africa Cybersecurity Magazine
Libyana mobile phone denies hack - Libya Observer.
Africa Data Centres announces that it will start construction on a new facility in Accra, Ghana - IT News Africa
Liquid Dataport is opening what it calls the first data superhighway on land, which sprawls from Mombasa to Johannesburg - Tech In Africa
Graph of the Week
Quote of the Week
"AI cannot replace human intelligence when it comes to cybersecurity."
- Obioru Awogu at the CyberStarters Conference, University of Lagos.
Across the World
Escalating China-Taiwan Tension Causes Surge in Cyber Attacks - The Hacker News
Montana governor bans TikTok - CNN
A Mysterious Group Has Ties to 15 Years of Ukraine-Russia Hacks - WIRED
Post Note
Remember to share with colleagues. See you next Saturday!