Two Nigerians receive 189-month US sentences over $2.4m phishing scheme

Two Nigerians have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in prison in the United States for their roles in an international cyber intrusion and fraud scheme. The US Department of Justice said Chijioke Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji worked with a criminal syndicate that targeted businesses across the country. Prosecutors said the scheme caused losses of more than $2.4 million.

According to the department, the pair spent almost two years using email-spamming and phishing campaigns to obtain usernames and passwords for employees’ email accounts. They allegedly used the stolen credentials to access business communications and identify legitimate payments. The group also created email addresses designed to resemble those of victims or their business partners.

Investigators said the defendants and their co-conspirators then used compromised accounts and the false addresses to communicate with businesses and redirect payments to accounts under the conspirators’ control. The Justice Department said more than $1.68 million belonging to an Iowa City victim was diverted to a bank account in Chicago. A further $720,000 was diverted from an Ohio victim.

It described those transactions as some of the attempts involving businesses in Iowa and elsewhere in the United States. Odimegwu received a nine-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $366,000 in restitution. The source material does not specify the individual sentence imposed on Mogaji, but gives the combined total as 189 months.

Both men lived and operated in Delaware and were members of the United States Air Force, according to the department. They were taken into custody after sentencing and will each serve three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.