THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced on Friday, January 21, 2022, the arrest of five individuals, two of whom are Nigerian nationals, for their involvement in the "Mark Nagoyo Heist Group," a group responsible for hacking of BDO, affecting more than 700 customers.
NBI officer-in-charge director Eric B. Distor identified the subjects as Ifesinachi Fountain Anaeweke; Chukwuemeka Peter Nwadi; Jherom Anthony Taupa; Ronelyn Panaligan and Clay S. Revillosa.
The Nigerian nationals Anaeweke and Nwadi were arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by operatives of the NBI-Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD) in Mabalacat, Pampanga on January 18, 2022.
The operation stemmed from information provided by the informant who had transactions with the subjects. The informant voluntarily appeared before the NBI-CCD to give information regarding several individuals believed to be leaders, members, or affiliates of the Mark Nagoyo Group.
In December 2021, a group of unknown threat actors perpetrated a massive heist involving BDO and more than 700 of its customers.
According to initial reports, this group was able to access customers’ bank accounts while supposedly bypassing the One-Time-Pin requirement and drain funds from those accounts.
Email confirmations for the bulk of the illegal transfers showed that they were made by a certain Mark D. Nagoyo.
Meanwhile, Taupa was arrested by operatives of NBI-CCD in a buy-bust operation last January 18 in Floridablanca, Pampanga for selling "scam page" or phishing website.
Another informant disclosed that Taupa is one of the masterminds behind the Mark Nagoyo Heist.
Further investigation revealed that Taupa is involved in a group heist, being the one sending the email list containing personal details of various bank customers to a group of individuals responsible for sending email to the former.
The said email contains a link that, when clicked, will be used for the hacking process of the heist group.
Aside from the 2 Nigerian nationals and Taupa, also arrested in a separate operation were Panaligan and Revillosa.
The Panaligan and Revillosa are likewise involved in the BDO hacking as web developer and downloaders respectively. (PR)