Nigerian student jailed for 4 years in US for $3.7m fraud

Nigerian student jailed for 4 years in US for $3.7m fraud

- A Nigerian student has bagged four years jail term in United States of America

- The student was accused of internet and email phishing scam

- The fraud committed by the student led to the loss of $3.7 million by various US companies

A Nigerian student living in the United States has been sentenced to 46 months imprisonment for committing fraud against some companies.

The student Amaechi Amuegbunam, 30, was also ordered to pay $615,555.12 (N2.21 million) as restitution for his role in email phishing scam popularly known as Business Email Compromise that caused $3.7 million loss to US companies.

Amuegbunam, Legit.ng gathered, was arrested in Baltimore in August 2015.

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He was charged with scamming 17 North Texas companies out of more than $600,000 using the phishing technique.

The student alongside other individuals were said to have sent fraudulent emails to companies.

The emails were said to have contained misinterpretations that caused the companies to wire wire funds as instructed on a PDF file attached to the email.

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The Nigerian student was said to have tricked employees into wiring money to him by cloning letter in the companies' actual email, authorities in the US said.

Investigation on his schemes began in 2013, when two North Texas companies reported falling victim to his antics.

Each of the companies were said to have lost about $100,000 each.

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These actions led to the issuance on the new cyber attack by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI said referring to the scheme as “Business Email Compromise." said it was a “growing fraud that is more sophisticated than any similar scam the FBI has seen before.”

Investigations by the agency in collaboration with Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria, led to the arrest of the convict.

After Amuegbunam's conviction, the in its reaction commended the EFCC for its dedication to the investigation.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Fawaz Olarewaju Animasau, 27, was sentenced to two years imprisonment in the US.

Animasau was accused of committing bank fraud with tow other persons.

They were named in a federal indictment for charges of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, as well as, aiding and abetting.

Former NNPC group managing director Andrew Yakubu in court over fraud allegations - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng

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