Security News > 2022 > October > Online romance scamlord who netted $9.5m jailed for 25 years

A man in the US has been jailed for 25 years after using dating websites, email scams, and other online swindles to steal more than $9.5 million from companies and individuals.

Elvis Eghosa Ogiekpolor, 46, of Norcross, Georgia, was part of an "International network of online fraudsters and money launderers," US Attorney Ryan Buchanan said today.

If any of these accounts were flagged for fraud or other suspicious activity, Ogiekpolor told his mules to simply open new ones at different banks, we're told.

Ogiekpolor then provided the bank account info to other co-conspirators to receive the proceeds from multiple romance frauds, business email compromise scams, and other forms of fraud.

Thirteen romance fraud victims testified at Ogiekpolor's trial and told the jury about meeting men online, communicating with them for several months without ever meeting in person while the men claimed to want to start a new life with the victims - just as soon as the men, ahem, resolved some major financial issue that required marks to send in thousands of dollars.

After Ogiekpolor serves his stretch in a federal cooler, he'll have three years of supervised release.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/10/03/romance_scammer_sentenced/