Nigerian Financial Company IT Worker Wanted for $40 Million Bank Hack

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is asking citizens for information on the whereabouts of Godswill Oyegwa Uyoyou, a financial institution information technology staffer who allegedly ripped off his employer.

Authorities claim he “fraudulently connived with some scammers and hacked into his bank’s database” and transferred out about $40 million.

The 38-year-old apparently brought in accomplices disguised as maintenance workers, and assisted them in accessing bank computer systems.

The money is believed to have been moved to bogus accounts controlled by the cohort.

The perpetrators allegedly were in the process of withdrawing funds when their activities were spotted.

Some local reports kept the name of bank quiet, but others have identified the business as a branch of Skye Bank, a Nigeria-based financial group operating across western and central Africa.

“Insider risk is a major problem for banks, who can invest all they like in the toughest security at their network boundaries to keep external hackers out, but still have to rely on trusted employees to behave themselves, resist temptation and keep their hands off the huge amounts of funds they may find themselves dealing with every day,” Sophos reports.