December 18, (THEWILL) — The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF–NCCC) has recorded a major breakthrough in its fight against cybercrime with the arrest of three suspects linked to sophisticated cyberattacks targeting Microsoft 365 email systems used by major corporate organisations.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the arrests followed credible intelligence provided by Microsoft Corporation in the United States through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The intelligence exposed the use of an advanced phishing toolkit known as RaccoonO365, designed to create fake Microsoft login portals to harvest user credentials and gain unauthorised access to corporate, financial and educational email platforms.
Acting on the information, the NPF–NCCC launched a coordinated, intelligence-led operation in collaboration with Microsoft, the FBI and the United States Secret Service.
Investigations revealed that between January and September 2025, several unauthorised accesses to Microsoft 365 accounts were carried out through phishing emails crafted to closely resemble legitimate Microsoft authentication pages.
According to the police, the cyberattacks resulted in business email compromise, data breaches and financial losses across multiple jurisdictions.
Further investigations led to the deployment of NPF–NCCC operatives to Lagos and Edo states, where three suspects were arrested.
Searches conducted at their residences led to the recovery of laptops, mobile phones and other digital devices, which forensic analysis has linked to the fraudulent scheme.
One of the suspects, Okitipi Samuel, also known by the aliases “RaccoonO365” and “Moses Felix,” was identified as the principal suspect and alleged developer of the phishing infrastructure. Police said he operated a Telegram channel through which phishing links were sold for cryptocurrency and hosted fraudulent login portals on Cloudflare using stolen or fraudulently obtained email credentials.
However, the police clarified that there is currently no evidence linking the two other suspects to the creation or direct operation of the phishing scheme.
Reaffirming its commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s digital space, the Nigeria Police Force said it would continue to deploy advanced technology, strengthen international partnerships and pursue diligent investigative and prosecutorial processes to counter emerging cyber threats.
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