Police arrest 3 hackers over cyberattack targeting Microsoft 365 users

Operatives of the police attached with the National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) have arrested Okitipi Samuel, and two others over their alleged involvement in a cyberattack that targeted Microsoft 365 users across some countries. The suspects, according to the police high command, were traced to somewhere in Nigeria after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) […]

Operatives of the police attached with the National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) have arrested Okitipi Samuel, and two others over their alleged involvement in a cyberattack that targeted Microsoft 365 users across some countries.

The suspects, according to the police high command, were traced to somewhere in Nigeria after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation into the data breach.

Addressing journalists at the headquarters of NCCC, Abuja, on Thursday, the spokesman of the police, Benjamin Hundeyin, accompanied by the Director of NPF-NCCC, CP Uche Henry, said they swung into action after they were contacted by the FBI.

He said investigation revealed that a phishing toolkit known as “Raccoon 0365” was used to create fake Microsoft login portals to harvest user credentials and unlawfully access email accounts belonging to corporate organisations, financial institutions and educational institutions in several countries.

He added that between January and September, 2025, several reports of unauthorised access to Microsoft 365 accounts were traced to phishing emails designed to mimic legitimate Microsoft login pages, enabling business email compromise, internal phishing, data breaches and other cyber-enabled fraud.

Hundeyin said digital forensic analysis and cryptocurrency tracing identified wallets connected to the illegal operation.

He noted that operatives were deployed to Lagos and Edo states, leading to the arrest of three suspects identified as Joshua, James and Okitipi Samuel between September 20 and October 4, 2025.