Microsoft has taken down hundreds of websites linked to Raccoon0365, a subscription-based phishing service traced to Nigeria, after uncovering large-scale theft of Microsoft 365 login credentials worldwide.
The company’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), armed with a U.S. court order, seized 338 domains that cybercriminals used to impersonate Microsoft and trick unsuspecting users into entering their credentials.
The operation, led by Nigeria-based developer Joshua Ogundipe, relied on Telegram to sell phishing kits to more than 850 subscribers.
According to Microsoft, the service has been used to steal at least 5,000 login details across 94 countries since it launched in July 2024. The group reportedly earned over $100,000 in cryptocurrency payments from customers who used its kits to run phishing campaigns.
Steven Masada, assistant general counsel at Microsoft’s DCU, warned about the simplicity, and the danger, of such services. “Cybercriminals don’t need to be sophisticated to cause widespread harm. Simple tools like Raccoon0365 make cybercrime accessible to virtually anyone, putting millions of users at risk.”
Investigators said Raccoon0365 targeted a wide range of industries, including financial institutions and healthcare providers. One campaign, themed around U.S. tax filings, attempted to compromise more than 2,300 organisations in just two weeks earlier this year.
Microsoft’s partner in the lawsuit, the Health Information Sharing & Analysis Centre (Health-ISAC), confirmed that at least five healthcare organisations had already fallen victim.
Errol Weiss, chief security officer at Health-ISAC, explained that: “So many of the attacks start because somebody gave up their user name and password to a bad guy. Once that cybercriminal has access to the network, then it’s just up to the imagination in terms of what comes next and how they monetise it.”
Cloudflare, which had unknowingly hosted some of the operators’ infrastructure, worked with Microsoft and the U.S. Secret Service to shut down the phishing network.
The internet security company said the attackers were skilled but left operational security lapses that exposed their identities. Blake Darché, Cloudflare’s head of threat intelligence, stated: “They’re in people’s accounts, they compromise lots of people, and it needs to obviously be stopped.”
Court filings show that Ogundipe and his associates played specific roles including coding the phishing tools, managing subscriptions, and offering customer support to fellow cybercriminals.
Investigators were able to tie him to the network after he mistakenly exposed a cryptocurrency wallet connected to the scheme. A criminal referral has been sent to international law enforcement.
The case highlights a disturbing evolution of phishing-as-a-service. Raccoon0365 recently introduced AI-MailCheck, an artificial intelligence feature designed to scale phishing operations further. Security researchers warn that this could make phishing attempts harder to detect and more damaging.
Check Point Research has noted that Microsoft is the most imitated brand in phishing attacks globally, accounting for 25% of attempts between April and June 2025; the rapid spread of networks like Raccoon0365 is a huge factor in this surge.
For Microsoft, the seizure is only one step. The company said more enforcement actions are expected as it works with global partners to dismantle the wider criminal ecosystem feeding off its brand identity.
