An announcement from the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in conjunction with the US Department of Justice revealed that action has been taken against six Nigerian citizens for their alleged involvement in a complex plot to steal over six million dollars from vulnerable victims in the United States.
The individuals identified by the State Department targeted US businesses and individuals through deceptive global threats such as business email compromise (BEC) and romance fraud.
According to the State Department, American citizens suffered losses exceeding $6,000,000 as a result of the BEC fraud schemes carried out by these individuals, in which they posed as business executives to request and receive wire transfers from legitimate business accounts.
The accused individuals were named as Richard Uzuh, Michael Olorunyomi, Alex Ogunshakin, Felix Okpoh, Nnamdi Benson, and Abiola Kayode by the department.
The press release also mentioned that money was unlawfully obtained from innocent Americans through romance fraud, in which the perpetrators pretended to be romantic partners to gain trust from their victims.
“Cybercriminals prey on vulnerable Americans and small businesses to deceive and defraud them,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “As technological advancement increasingly offers malicious actors tools that can be used for online attacks and schemes, the United States will continue to protect and defend at-risk Americans and businesses.”
In a statement published on the official website of the US Department of State titled “U.S. Sanctions Nigerian Cyber Actors for Targeting U.S. Businesses and Individuals,” the US department stated;
“Technological advancements that provide greater interconnectivity also offer greater opportunity for exploitation by malicious actors who target at-risk Americans.”
“Today, in coordination with the US Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control took action against six Nigerian nationals, pursuant to Executive Order 13694 as amended, for conducting an elaborate online scheme to steal more than $6 million from victims across the United States.”
“The six individuals designated today manipulated their victims to gain access to their sensitive information and financial resources. The US will not tolerate such gross misuse of technology.”
” The United States will use all of the tools at our disposal to defend the American people and businesses from malign actors that seek to target them, including cyber-enabled actors who prey on vulnerable Americans and businesses.”