According to a report by Premium Times, Obinna Obioha, a Nigerian hacker, has been sentenced to 51 months in jail after being found guilty by a US court for operating a fraud scheme that duped businesses from the US and around the world out of $6.5 million.
In the scheme Obioha, while in Nigeria, instructed hackers to hack into computers and email accounts of individuals around the world using malicious software. Obioha and his associates would then monitor the accounts of their victims searching for imminent commercial transactions, then using bogus email accounts send fraudulent invoices to victims, instructing them to wire funds to bank accounts controlled by him and his associates, under the pretence that the wires were payments for actual deals that had been previously negotiated by the victims.
The Nigerian, who was arrested on October 6, 2016, after flying from Lagos, Nigeria, to JFK International Airport and has been in custody since that time, admitted that between January and September 2016, he was involved in at least 50 wire transfers. He also admitted that about USD $6.5 million was sent by wire to bank accounts that he and his associates controlled. The accounts received money from fraud victims in New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, among other places. This is according to a report by Naij.com.
The announcement of Obioha’s sentence was made by the Acting United States Attorney Grant CJaquith and Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Obioha, working from Nigeria, was a central figure in a fraud scheme using digital disguises and deceit to bilk businesses out of millions of dollars. We will continue to track down and bring to justice cyber criminals like Obioha no matter where they operate. I thank the FBI for its terrific work in this case identifying and apprehending Obioha,” said Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Vadim D. Thomas said: “These schemes can rob individuals and businesses of their livelihood. Cyber-crime is a serious threat and the FBI is prepared to go to any lengths to apprehend those like Obioha.”
By: Dean Workman
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