The biggest known Nigeria internet scams
Following the arrest of Ramon Olorunwa Abass aka Hushpuppi, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in 2019 alone, it recorded $1.7 billion in losses by companies and individuals victimized through business email compromise (BEC) scams.
This is the type of scheme Hushpuppi and his accomplice Olalekan Jacob Ponle aka Woodbery are charged with conducting from their base in Dubai before their arrest on June 10, 2020. They are, however, not the first.
Here’s a list of some of the biggest known Nigerian internet scams:
Hope Olusegun Aroke
In 2019, Aroke, a Malaysia-based student masterminded a $1 million scam from Kirikiri prison while serving a 24-year sentence for internet fraud.
Okpako Mike Diamreyan – 31 years old
Okpako was sentenced to more than 12 years in U.S. prison for taking part in an Internet “advance fee” scam and ordered to pay over $1 million to his victims in February 2011.
Festus Abiona – 38 years old
Abiona, arrested in September 2019, is one of the suspected fraudsters declared wanted by the FBI. He is said to have bypassed online security to steal approximately $2.5 million from retirement accounts held by an insurance company for public workers in the U.S.
Valentine Iro and Chukwudi Christogunus Igbokwe
Between 2014 and 2018, Iro and Igbokwe, working with nearly 80 other international swindlers, facilitated a series of schemes that resulted in the theft of at least $6 million and the attempted theft of $40 million more from victims in more than 10 countries. They were arrested in the United States.
Ikechukwu Amadi – 38 years old
Amadi is a dual Canadian and Nigerian citizen. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail in Tampa Bay, Florida, in November 2019 for internet fraud of more than $10 million.
Invictus Obi – 32 years old
Obinwanne Okeke aka Invictus Obi, the CEO of Invictus Group was arrested in the United States after hacking into the e-mail account of the chief financial officer of Unatrac, an international subsidiary of heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, and authorized a series of fictitious invoices to the tune of $11 million. He was arrested in August 2019.
David Chukwuneke Adindu – 30 years old
Adindu was sentenced to three years and five months in prison in the U.S in December 2017 after he pleaded guilty to taking part in email scams of more than $25 million.
Mike – 40 years old
According to EFCC, ‘Mike’ is believed to be behind scams totaling more than $60 million involving hundreds of victims worldwide. He was arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers state in 2016.
Three Nigerians sentenced to 235 years in prison in U.S
In May 2017, a court in Mississippi, United States, sentenced three Nigerian men to 235 years in prison after they were arrested in South Africa for running online scams that duped people out of tens of millions of dollars. Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, 30, was sentenced to 95 years in prison, with associates Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, 31, getting 115 years and Femi Alexander Mewase, 45, getting 25 years.
Onwuemerie Ogor Gift and Kelvin Usifo.
The pair were indicted for defrauding US residents through numerous Bitcoin BTC investment scams. But they are yet to be apprehended by US authorities since April 2019 when they were declared wanted.
