Nigerians seem to be experts in long-con cyber crimes. They pull off the trickiest of frauds sitting in a location which is quite far off. With a large network, their strike rate of success is quite high and they do not settle for anything less than Rs 5 lakh.
Look at a recent cybercrime. The Hyderabad cybercrime sleuths unrivalled a KBC fraud where a woman was tricked into investing her whole Rs 10 lakh savings in various instruments at different intervals of time. On one fine day, she came to know that she had been taken for a ride.
She ran to the police immediately and poured out her grief in December last year. An investigation began and it took time for the police as it was a confidence trick played by a Nigerian. His first IP address indicated that he was operating out of Delhi.
Like all criminals, this Nigerian too, though he was very smart, committed one mistake which gave him away. He used a service provider whereas most Nigerians use public networks like open WiFi.In the preliminary investigation, they began collecting precise details like the bank account from which the victim had sent the money. A cybercrime expert worked on the case and found the bank transaction was made to Kotak Mahindra Bank and found that the location was in Delhi.
The cybercrime expert then kept an eye on several IP Addresses that exist in Delhi that made transactions through Kotak Bank on a specific date and time. Several IP addresses were shortlisted to the date and time when the victim sent the amount to the conman.
The different IP addresses used mobile internet, WiFi provided by a service provider and open WiFi. All three different networks were segregated and then identified the v4 and v6 versions of the IP address.
Consequently, the expert again segregated the multiple-time users and found a couple of V6 version users which means it is a WiFi network provided by a service provider. A team of five sleuths including the expert reached Delhi. As Cyber Crime sleuths, local police of Delhi and Arktel Networks began working together. Arktel provided the IP address and the details of the customer and said he is continuing the service. Arktel to pinpoint the exact location. Chor mil gaya.