Rifnote
Loading your desk
Two Nigerian US Air Force men jailed for international cyber fraud
Two Delaware men have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in an international cyber intrusion scheme, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports.
According to court documents, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu, 25, and Harafat Mogaji, 26, both members of the US Air Force at the time, ran phishing campaigns for nearly two years to steal victims’ employee email credentials, then used spoofed addresses to redirect business payments to accounts controlled by their co-conspirators.
They fraudulently diverted over $1.68 million from a victim in Iowa City and more than $720,000 from a victim in Ohio, while also harvesting and trading stolen financial information, including credit card data belonging to a nonprofit in Pella, Iowa.
Odimegwu was sentenced to 111 months and ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution, while Mogaji received 78 months and was ordered to pay $995,680.45; both were taken into custody immediately and will serve three years of supervised release afterward.
“Criminals from all backgrounds attack our digital systems… No one and no device is immune from the threat,” said FBI Omaha’s Eugene Kowel, adding that the bureau will continue working with partners to dismantle cyber-enabled fraud schemes.