Three Nigerian citizens have been indicted in US federal court in connection with a business email compromise (BEC) scam that allegedly stole more than $6 million from victims.
Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo, 29, was extradited from Canada to the United States earlier this month and is expected to appear in federal court on Friday, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Two of Simon-Ebo’s alleged co-conspirators, James Junior Aliyu, 28, and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu, 31. Aliyu and Echev, also known as “Old Soldiers” or “Ghosts”, were arrested in South Africa where fraud was allegedly carried out.
The three men allegedly conspired with others to carry out the BEC scam from February 2016 to at least July 2017. Personal and corporate email Gained unauthorized access to his account, harvested information and sent fraudulent messages from his spoofed email address. Trick victims into transferring money to bank accounts under their control.
Specifically, Simon-Ebo was indicted in connection with wire fraud involving $6,343,533.10 in victims’ funds.
If convicted, the man could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the counts of wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud. Additionally, Aliyu faces up to 20 years in federal prison for money laundering charges.
Last year, the FBI said more than US$43 billion was lost to BEC and email account compromise scams since 2016.
Commentators have suggested that the increasing adoption of telework is responsible for the increase in BEC attacks in recent years.
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this guest author article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire, Inc.
