A French-speaking gang has been tied to the theft of at least $11 million, mainly from banks in Africa.
The criminal syndicate, codenamed “Opera1er,” remains “active and dangerous,” according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Group-IB and the CERT Coordination Center at French multinational telecommunications giant Orange.
“Researchers codenamed the gang Opera1er after an email account frequently used by the gang to register their domains,” Group-IB reports, adding that the gang is also known as Desktop-Group and NXSMS, while the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication – aka SWIFT – in 2020 dubbed it Common Raven.
“Between 2018 and 2022, the gang managed to steal at least $11 million, and the actual amount of damage could be as high as $30 million,” Group-IB reports.
Victims have included financial services firms and telecommunications companies in Argentina, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Paraguay, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. Researchers say the group prefers to hit victims on weekends or during public holidays.
