…uses phishing to steal American citizens identities, bank account log-ins transaction in Alabama, other states
*This fugitive in the United Kingdom at the time of arrest, was involved in a sophisticated business e-mail compromise scheme targeting real estate transactions
*Co-suspects Feyisayo Ogunsanwo and Yusuf Lasisi remain at large, U.S. American authorities continue seeking their arrest and extradition
*’33-year-old Babatunde Francis Ayeni was involved in a massive cyber fraud conspiracy that victimized over 400 people across the United States resulting in a collective loss of nearly $20 million’- U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama
*BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/AMERICA Senior Investigative Editor, NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER
HE IS A CRIMINAL. His name is Babatunde Francis Ayeni, a 33-year-old Nigerian resident in the United Kingdom, UK, now arrested for defrauding 400 innocent Americans in Alabama, others states in the United States to the tune of $20Million. He was arraigned in court and sentenced by the judge to serve a 10-year-prison jail term.
He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a massive cyber fraud conspiracy that victimized over 400 people across the United States resulting in a collective loss of nearly $20 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama announced this week.
A real estate title company in Gulf Shores fell victim to the conspiracy.
Court documents and testimony revealed that 33-year-old Babatunde Francis Ayeni, a citizen of Nigeria living in the United Kingdom at the time of his arrest, was involved in a sophisticated business e-mail compromise scheme targeting real estate transactions in the United States. Ayeni pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in April.
To carry out this scheme, conspirators sent phishing e-mails containing attachments and links embedded with malicious code to title companies, real estate agents, and real estate attorneys across the U.S. The conspirators stole the employees’ login credentials and were able to monitor accounts for transactions where a buyers were scheduled to make real estate transaction payments.
Ayeni and other conspirators then sent emails to the purchasers from the compromised e-mail accounts. The emails contained wiring instructions that resulted in purchasers wiring funds to the criminals bank accounts, according to court documents.
After Ayeni fraudulently obtained the Gulf Shores real estate title company’s email credentials of a real estate title company in Gulf Shores, Alabama, he and his co-conspirators defraud victims in the Southern District of Alabama and elsewhere, federal prosecutors said.
More than 400 people across the U.S. fell victim to the conspiracy. Of those, 231 couldn’t stop the wire transactions in time and lost their entire transactions. The collective loss of these 231 victims was $19,599,969, officials said.
During the multi-day sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer heard the impact of this crime from nearly 20 victims.
Prosecutors said co-defendants Feyisayo Ogunsanwo and Yusuf Lasisi remain at large and are believed to be outside the U.S. American authorities continue are seeking their arrest and extradition.
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