Security News > 2020 > June > U.S. Sanctions Six Nigerians for BEC and Romance Fraud
The United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Justice this week announced sanctions against six Nigerian nationals for their involvement in business email compromise and romance fraud schemes.
The six, namely Richard Uzuh, Micheal Olorunyomi, Alex Ogunshakin, Felix Okpoh, Nnamdi Benson, and Abiola Kayode, engaged in BEC fraud schemes that resulted in American citizens losing over $6 million, the U.S. Treasury says.
From September 2015 to June 2017, Olorunyomi and an accomplice engaged in a romance fraud scheme in which he either obtained funds directly from the victims, or used their bank accounts to funnel fraudulently obtained money.
Engaging in both BEC and romance scams, Ogunshakin provided Uzuh and other co-conspirators with bank accounts to receive fraudulent wire transfers, in addition to running his own BEC schemes and assisting Uzuh with the contacting of victim companies.
While also conducting BEC and romance scams, Kayode too provided U.S. bank accounts to individuals involved in the scheme.