Oludayo Adeagbo, a 45-year-old Nigerian-British man, has been jailed for seven years in the United Statesm for his involvement in an email fraud, also known as “multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme.”
According to the Federal Bureau if Investigations (FBI), BEC scams, also known as email account compromises (EAC), accur when criminals send email messages that appear to come from knowns sources, making a legitimate requests, even though they are fake.
A statement issued by the US department of justice says that Adeagbo participated in multiple cyber-enabled BEC schemes in an attempt to steal more than $3 million from entities in Texas, including local government entities, construction companies, and a Houston-area college.
The statement said Adeagbo and his conspirators defrauded a North Carolina university of more than $1.9 million. It noted that Adeagbo, who entered the US in August 2022 after he was extradited from the United Kingdom to face criminal charges, pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for criminal conduct on August 8, following the transfer of the case in the US district court for the southern district of Texas to the US district court for the western district of North Carolina.
“Oludayo Adeagbo and his coconspirators perpetrated transnational cyber-enabled fraud schemes that targeted schools, government entities, and companies across the United States, and caused millions of dollars in losses,” Nicole Argentieri, head of the justice department’s criminal division, said.
“Adeagbo’s extradition, plea, and sentencing underscore the criminal division’s commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to pursue cybercriminals who target American victims, no matter where that pursuit leads.
“We are especially grateful to the government of the United Kingdom for its assistance in this case.”
Alamdar S. Hamdani, attorney for the southern district of Texas, said Adeagbo “ran a sophisticated 21st-century cyber-criminal operation hiding behind fake email accounts and anonymous internet addresses to steal from the innocent, a crime as old as time itself.”
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