"Two Nigerians Sentenced to Prison in US for BEC Fraud"

Two Nigerian nationals were recently sentenced to prison in the US for operating a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.  According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), one of the individuals, Ebuka Raphael Umeti, 35, was sentenced on August 27 to 10 years in prison.  His co-defendant, Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna, 34, was sentenced on September 3 to five years and three months in prison.  Each defendant was ordered to pay roughly $5 million in restitution.  The DoJ noted that between February 2016 and July 2021, the two sent phishing emails that appeared to originate from trusted sources.  The phishing emails carried attachments meant to infect the targets’ systems with malware, allowing the co-conspirators to remotely access the victims’ systems and email accounts and steal sensitive information.  Umeti, Okwonna, and their co-conspirators then used the stolen information to trick employees at victim organizations into making wire transfers to accounts under the scammers’ control.

SecurityWeek reports: "Two Nigerians Sentenced to Prison in US for BEC Fraud"