Three Nigerian nationals are facing charges in US federal court related to a business email scam (BEC) that stole more than $6 million from victims.
29-year-old Kosi Goodens Simon-Abo was extradited from Canada to the United States earlier this month, according to Ministry of Justice press releaseand will appear in federal court on Friday.
Two of Simon-Ebo’s alleged co-conspirators, James Jr. Aliyu, 28, and 31-year-old Henry Onyedikachi Achepo. Aliyu, also known as “Old Soldier” or “Ghost”, and Achepo were arrested in South Africa, where the fraud is said to have been committed.
The three men reportedly conspired with others to commit BEC fraud from February 2016 to at least July 2017. After gaining unauthorized access to the email accounts of people and businesses, the men collected information and sent fraudulent messages from fake email addresses. Trick victims into connecting money to bank accounts they control.
Specifically, Simon-Abo was charged in relation to a network fraud involving $6,343,533.10 of victims’ money.
If convicted, the men could face maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison on the wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and each count of wire fraud. In addition, he faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for money laundering.
Last year the FBI said this More than 43 billion dollars Lost through BEC and email account scams since 2016.
Commentators have suggested that the increasing adoption of remote work has caused an increase in BEC attacks in recent years.
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