Okitipi Samuel, also known as Moses Felix, an international cybercrime syndicate has been arrested for allegedly being the developer behind the Raccoon 0365 phishing toolkit. The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) announced the breakthrough on Thursday, December 18, after a year-long investigation involving the FBI, Interpol, and Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit.Raccoon 0365 operated as a Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS) model, allowing low-skilled criminals to rent sophisticated hacking tools for approximately $355 per month. Between January and September 2025, the toolkit was used to harvest over 5,000 Microsoft 365 credentials from 94 countries, targeting healthcare providers, financial institutions, and government agencies.The operation gained global attention for its ability to bypass Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) using deceptive Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHAs to trick users into feeling secure. In September 2025, Microsoft successfully seized 338 domains linked to the infrastructure, leading investigators directly to the digital footprints of the developer in Nigeria.While three individuals were initially detained in Lagos and Edo states, police cleared two suspects Joshua and James, ruling that they were victims of identity theft, whose details were used by Samuel to register malicious infrastructure without their consent.Investigators used advanced blockchain forensics to trace cryptocurrency wallets used to sell phishing links on Telegram. Samuel allegedly managed a channel with over 850 members, receiving over $100,000 in digital payments.Despite the global scale of the crime and involvement of the FBI, Nigeria has opted to prosecute Samuel locally under the Cybercrimes Act, 2024, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years for attacks on critical infrastructure.Force PRO Benjamin Hundeyin lauded the arrest as a testament to Nigeria’s growing digital sovereignty and technical capacity. The NPF-NCCC claims to have “cut the head off the snake”, by unmasking the developer rather than just the end-users, and also disabling a tool that was sending up to 9,000 malicious emails daily.Okitipi Samuel remains in custody and is to be arraigned in a Federal High Court by early January 2026. Meanwhile, Microsoft has begun a mass-notification process for the 5,000+ compromised account holders to reset their security protocols.
Lagos closes key Island roads for Autofest 2025, issues Advisory
The Lagos State Government has issued a traffic advisory ahead of the 7th Road Edition of the Lagos Autofest 2025, scheduled to hold on Sunday, December 22. To facilitate the high-speed street race, vehicular movement will be strictly restricted around the Inner Marina and surrounding Lagos Island between 12:00 PM and 7:00 PM.Organized by the BMW Club of Nigeria and Work and Play Promotion, the Lagos Autofest has become a staple of the “Detty December” calendar, which blends motorsport with entertainment. The event features supercars, precision drifting, and high-speed racing. Given the nature of street racing, the state government has prioritized a total lockdown during the event hours to prevent accidents involving non-participating motorists and pedestrians.The race route covers Marina Road (UBA) through Kakawa Street, Balabina Street, Broad Street, and Issah Williams Street, before returning to the Inner Marina finish point. All junctions and intersections feeding into this corridor will be physically cordoned off with road barriers. Motorists will not be able to cross or enter the race track under any circumstances during the 7-hour window.The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Nigeria Police Force, and FRSC, will be deployed at every entry point to manage diversions and ensure public safety.Officials stated that the Autofest will attract international attention and boost the local hospitality and tourism sectors. They added that the Sunday afternoon timing was chosen to minimize the impact on the business community, which is usually closed during that period.Motorists intending to visit Lagos Island on Sunday are advised to complete their trips before noon or utilize the Onikan-Force Road axis to bypass the restricted Marina zone. All roads are expected to be fully reopened by 8:00 PM on Sunday evening after a post-race safety inspection.
Legal Experts slam FIRS MoU with France over economic data exposure fears
A debate has erupted following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP) on December 10. While the FIRS stated that the deal is a critical step toward digital tax administration, legal experts and opposition figures are raising alarms over data sovereignty.The partnership aims to leverage on the decades of experience in AI-powered audits of France and the automated compliance systems as the FIRS plan to adopt this into the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) in January 2026.Oladipupo Ige, a legal expert argued that even advisory access can lead to data exposure, potentially giving a foreign power visibility into Nigeria’s economic heartbeat.Dr. Segun Adebayo warned that aggregated data, though anonymized, can reveal vulnerabilities, industry-specific compliance gaps, and revenue dependencies, providing France with leverage in future trade and loan negotiations.Meanwhile, the FIRS maintains that no raw taxpayer data will leave the country.The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) is expected to conduct an independent review of the MoU. Meanwhile, opposition parties and the Northern Elders Forum are calling for the suspension of the deal until full public disclosure of the terms is made to the National Assembly.
After 16 years of sidelining Africa, PayPal abandons the account-first model for partnership
PayPal has announced the launch of PayPal World in Africa, scheduled for 2026. This was confirmed by Otto Williams, PayPal’s Senior VP for the Middle East and Africa, to end the decade-long standoff where African entrepreneurs were restricted from receiving funds overseas.The new platform acts as a cross-border bridge that connects existing local mobile money wallets directly to millions of global merchants, rather than forcing users to open traditional Western-style PayPal accounts.For nearly 20 years, PayPal’s relationship with Africa was defined by distrust over fraud and high chargeback rates. The company also maintained a send-only policy in many African nations, including Nigeria. This created a digital wall for freelancers and small businesses who could pay for global services but could not get paid.During this absence, Africa built its own financial world. Systems like M-Pesa (Kenya) and MTN MoMo to revolutionize mobile finance, turning Africa into the global leader for mobile money, accounting for 70% of the world’s transaction value. PayPal’s 2026 entry is an admission that it can no longer win a wallet war against these homegrown giants.Under the PayPal World model, users won’t need a separate PayPal account. They can simply click a PayPal button at an international checkout, which then links directly to their M-Pesa, MTN, or Flutterwave wallet to complete the payment. Africa follows a 2024-2025 rollout in India (via UPI), China (WeChat Pay), and Brazil (Mercado Pago). By 2026, a Kenyan user could scan a M-Pesa QR code to pay a merchant who only uses PayPal, and vice versa.To support this rollout, PayPal has committed $100 million for venture investments and innovation in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, including hiring local staff to scale regional compliance and operations.
JAMB Registrar plans to certify 1,039 CBT centres
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has launched a countrywide verification process for all Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres ahead of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede, revealed on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, that the board intends to approve 1,039 centres, subject to compliance with required security and technical specifications. As the 2026 UTME registration period nears, from January 31 to March 8, 2026, JAMB is rolling out robust safeguards against fraud, targeting recycled scams from past cycles. In earlier years, blacklisted centre operators evaded sanctions by rebranding businesses or shifting locations to reapply. This time, JAMB has linked its database to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to monitor individuals beyond mere company names. The board has also prohibited the use of computers from delisted centres. If any of these blacklisted machines end up in approved facilities, JAMB’s central system will automatically flag and reject them. Both fresh and existing centres are required to adopt Star topology networking and install HIKVision CCTV setups with 16-32 channels backed by UPS power for complete exam surveillance without blind spots. Prospective candidates should begin creating their profile codes early to sidestep peak-time server overloads.
Airtel to boost Nigeria’s mobile coverage with Starlink satellite service
By Aminu Umar Turaki Airtel Africa has partnered with SpaceX to use Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell satellite technology to improve mobile coverage in Nigeria and other African countries. The deal will allow people in remote and rural areas, where there are no mobile towers, to connect their smartphones directly to satellites, without needing special devices. According to a statement released on Tuesday, the service will first support text messages and limited data services. Faster internet and full broadband services will be added later, after regulators in each country give approval. Starlink’s new satellite system is designed to offer higher speeds and better reliability than older satellite networks. This makes it useful in places where building mobile towers is difficult or too expensive. Airtel Africa has about 174 million customers, many of whom live in areas with weak or no network coverage. The company says the partnership will help improve access to education, business, and digital services. Airtel Africa’s Managing Director, Sunil Taldar, said the deal will help set a new standard for network availability. SpaceX’s Vice President of Sales, Stephanie Bednarek, added that people will be able to stay connected without changing their phones. The system uses about 650 satellites and is meant to support existing mobile networks, not replace them.The service will be launched in 2026, starting with basic features like texting and limited data use.