Top Nigerian 'cyber scammer' allegedly involved in worldwide scams worth £45m arrested

Criminal network compromises email accounts all over the world, scamming millions of pounds

'Mike' was arrested after months of investigation by Interpol and Nigeria's anti-fraud agency

(Interpol)

A Nigerian man accused of being behind thousands of online frauds across the world has been arrested.

The 40-year-old Nigerian, identified only as "Mike", was allegedly the head of an international criminal network behind scams totalling more than $60m (£45m).

The criminal network compromised email accounts of small and medium-sized businesses all over the world, including in the US, Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa and Thailand, Interpol said.

One target alone paid $15.4m (£11.6m).

"Mike" was arrested along with a 38-year-old accomplice in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in June.

Both are currently on administrative bail, implying officers do not yet have enough evidence to change them in court.

The network involved around 40 people in Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa who provided malware and carried out the frauds, and used money-laundering accounts in China, Europe and the US, Interpol said.

Such crime "poses a significant and growing threat, with tens of thousands of companies victimised in recent years," Noboru Nakatani, executive director of the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, said in a statement.

"The public, and especially businesses, need to be alert to this type of cyber-enabled fraud."