Microsoft seizes websites linked to Nigeria-based phishing

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it seized 338 websites linked to a Nigerian-based service that allowed users to carry out phishing campaigns

The service, called "Raccoon0365," allowed users to engage in phishing campaigns that involved thousands of emails at a time, according to Steven Masada, assistant general counsel for Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit.

The phishing operation ended up stealing at least 5,000 Microsoft user credentials.

Phishing is a cybercrime in which criminals impersonate trustworthy domains to deceive users into revealing sensitive information like passwords or banking details.

How did the phishing scheme work?

Raccoon0365 operates through a private Telegram channel with over 850 subscribers.

The service enables users to impersonate trusted brand names and get targets to enter Microsoft login details on fake Microsoft platforms. According to Microsoft's Masada, the service has generated at least $100,000 (€84,425) in cryptocurrency payments for its operators since launching in July 2024.

Raccoon0365 users targeted a wide range of industries, a significant number of which are organizations based in New York City, Masada said.

How did Microsoft seize Raccoon0365?

According to Masada, Microsoft identified what it said was a Raccoon0365-related effort using tax-themed phishing emails to target more than 2,300 organizations, mostly in the US, in February this year, according to a company blog posted in April.

Earlier this month, Microsoft obtained an order from the US District Court in Manhattan to seize domains associated with Raccoon0365. The seizure of the websites occurred over a period of days earlier this month.

"Cybercriminals don't need to be sophisticated to cause widespread harm," Masada said. "Simple tools like Raccoon0365 make cybercrime accessible to virtually anyone, putting millions of users at risk," he added.

Raccoon0365 operators used Cloudflare services to help conceal the service's backend infrastructure. Cloudflare worked with Microsoft and the US Secret Service to take down Raccoon0365 operations and prevent the operators from establishing new accounts.

Blake Darche, the head of threat intelligence at Cloudflare, said that while Raccoon0365 operators made some operational security mistakes, they were highly effective.

"They're in people's accounts, they compromise lots of people, and it needs to obviously be stopped," he said.

By Hauwau Samaila Mohammed, DW

Over 650 Kidney Trafficked in Nigeria, Fuels $41B Global Market

Professor Aliyu Abdu, a nephrologist and academic at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and a consultant at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), has disclosed that between 2015 and 2020, at least 651 kidneys were illegally harvested and transplanted in Nigeria, with an estimated global value exceeding $41 billion.

Professor Abdu shared the staggering figure while speaking at a seminar on National Organ and Tissue Transplantation Standards held in Abuja.

He highlighted that this illegal activity is part of a broader international organ trade, where approximately 10,000 kidneys are sold on the black market each year.

He attributed the growing illicit trade in Nigeria to inadequate regulatory oversight, despite existing laws.

While the National Health Act of 2014 criminalises the commercial sale of human organs and mandates informed donor consent, enforcement has been inconsistent, leaving vulnerable individuals exposed to exploitation.

“Most of the people who fall victim to this are poor and desperate. They’re lured by money without understanding the serious health risks involved,” Abdu said.

He also pointed out that many donors are left without medical support following surgery, often suffering long-term health complications and emotional trauma.

According to him, the underground kidney trade in Nigeria is driven by well-organized criminal networks.

These syndicates typically involve a wide range of actors from recruiters and medical professionals to drivers, travel agents, and insurers all working together to facilitate illegal transplants.

The professor further noted that the lack of cadaveric (deceased donor) kidney donations and the absence of functioning organ banks in the country contribute to the continued reliance on illicit means to meet transplant demands.

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Video - Drive to solar power gathers pace across Nigeria

With rising costs, and unreliable electricity supply from the national grid, many in Nigeria are turning to alternatives like solar energy. Despite the country having regular sunlight, solar power makes up less than 0.5 percent of its generation capacity in 2022. And now households and businesses are tapping into the power of the sun, to fill the energy gap.

CGTN Africa

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Nigerian govt charges Sowore, Facebook, X with cybercrimes over anti-Tinubu posts

 

The Nigerian government has charged Sahara Reporters publisher and activist Omoyele Sowore alongside Facebook and X owners with cybercrimes over Mr Sowore’s recent posts describing President Bola Tinubu as a criminal.

The trio were charged jointly with five counts of cybercrimes at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

It came about a week after the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s secret police, threatened both X Incorp and Meta (Facebook) Incorp to delete Mr Sowore’s posts and deactivate his account or face the consequences.

SSS, which has a history of arresting and instigating the prosecution of Mr Sowore over his public views, also warned the activist to delete his latest social media posts calling Mr Tinubu a criminal.

Mr Sowore wrote to both X Incorp and Meta Incorp to defend his post, informing them that the call by the SSS was the latest in a series of harassments, rights violations, mistreatments he has received from the government over his public views and civic actions.

He also replied to the SSS, insisting he would not delete the posts.

Mr Sowore shared copies of the charges via his social media accounts on Tuesday.

He wrote, “The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against ‘X’ (formerly Twitter Facebook, and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of “novel” offences they invented and spread across five counts.

“It’s hard to believe there’s anyone sensible left in these offices that should be making Nigeria work. Regardless, I will be present whenever this case is assigned for trial. #RevolutionNow.”

By Yakubu Mohammed, Premium Times

Starlink hits capacity in Nigeria’s largest cities, raising questions about Musk’s Africa ambitions

 

Elon Musk’s Starlink has stopped accepting new orders in some of Nigeria’s busiest urban hubs after its satellite internet network hit capacity, putting a spotlight on the challenges of scaling in Africa’s largest market.

In some locations in Nigeria's commercial nerve center such as Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Ikeja and Surulere, as well as the nation's capital Abuja, Starlink’s website now displays “Sold Out” notices.

Prospective customers are pushed onto a waitlist and asked to pay a deposit before they can be notified when slots reopen.

A subscription attempt at a popular estate in Lagos’s Maryland area returned the message: “Starlink service is currently at capacity in your area. The good news is you can place a deposit now to reserve a spot on the waitlist and will be notified once service becomes available again.”

"Please note that we cannot provide an estimated timeframe for service availability, but our teams are working as quickly as possible to add more capacity to the constellation so we can continue to expand coverage for more customers around the world."


A network under strain?

A Starlink engineer told TechCabal that the company occasionally halts new activations to safeguard service quality for existing users.

Adding capacity typically requires either fresh satellite launches or regulatory approval to expand coverage.

However, this isn’t the first disruption. Starlink froze all new orders across Nigeria in late 2024, citing bandwidth shortages and pending approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), especially over pricing changes. Service only resumed mid-2025 after upgrades and regulatory clearance.

The company’s rising costs haven’t helped. Starlink’s monthly fee has climbed from about ₦38,000 ($25) at launch to ₦56,000 ($37) this year, a jump the company attributes to naira devaluation and compliance costs.

The hikes triggered customer backlash and slowed growth.

NCC data shows Starlink lost more than 6,000 active users in Q1 2025, dropping from 65,564 in Q4 2024 to 59,509. It was the first quarterly decline since launch, as some Nigerians abandoned the service for cheaper alternatives or dropped internet subscriptions altogether.

Musk’s Africa expansion faces real-world challenges

The network crunch in Nigeria raises questions about Elon Musk’s broader ambition to expand Starlink into every African market.

While the billionaire entrepreneur has pitched Starlink as a solution to poor connectivity across the continent, Nigeria’s experience highlights the logistical and regulatory hurdles of scaling in fast-growing but economically strained markets.

If capacity is already overstretched in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and one of Starlink’s early adopters, analysts say rolling out service continent-wide will require not only more satellites and ground stations but also stronger engagement with regulators to manage pricing, infrastructure demands, and bandwidth allocation.

In July, Starlink expanded into Chad, becoming its 24th African market. Still, Musk’s goal of blanket coverage across the continent remains distant, with Nigeria emerging as both a key testing ground and a cautionary tale


Global strains visible too

Starlink’s challenges are not confined to Africa. On Monday, the satellite network experienced a brief outage in the United States, with more than 43,000 users reporting problems at its peak, according to tracking site Downdetector.com.

The disruption, later resolved, highlighted the pressures facing the service even in mature markets.

Reuters reports that Starlink’s website initially displayed a notice confirming the outage, saying its team was investigating, before removing the message once connectivity was restored.

The episode underscores a growing reality for Musk’s satellite internet venture: from Nigeria’s congested urban hubs to American suburbs, scaling a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to meet surging demand is proving more difficult than the company’s global ambitions might suggest.

By Soloman Ekanem, Business Insider Africa