Iraqi MP Suffers Online Extortion
A senior Iraqi politician has become the victim of a prolonged international campaign of intimidation and online extortion.
In dual raids carried out on February 24, police in Australia and Canada arrested four individuals accused of targeting the politician and his family for over a year.
While the identity of the victim has not been officially disclosed, Australian police described him as a "very senior politician" who has dual Australian and Iraqi citizenship and who "spends almost all of his time in Iraq."
An investigation was launched after a series of attacks on a residence in western Sydney and multiple online extortion attempts demanding $10m. Australian police were able to link the cybercrimes to social media accounts controlled by suspects located in Edmonton, Canada.