A Nigerian couple has been sentenced to federal jail for his or her involvement in a “catfishing” scheme utilizing the U.S. Postal Service.
Julie Okoronkwo and her husband, Edwin Okoronkwo, have been convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated id theft, based on the Division of Justice. Julie was sentenced to 25 months in federal jail, two years of probation, and deportation. Edwin obtained a 75-month sentence, three years of probation, and deportation after serving his full sentence. The couple might be liable for repaying $337,535 and $342,535, respectively.
The couple, everlasting resident aliens residing in Omaha, Nebraska, used a number of social media profiles to goal victims on-line. They posed as high-ranking army officers and generally as army members on secret missions.
The couple obtained funds by means of FedEx, the U.S. Postal Service, and on-line wire switch strategies akin to Zelle and PayPal.
“The Okoronkwos used victims’ private figuring out info (PII) obtained from id theft victims to open financial institution accounts and different on-line monetary companies accounts, together with peer-to-peer digital funds platforms (e.g., PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and Money App),” the DOJ detailed the operation in a press launch.
It’s unclear what the Okoronkwos stated to achieve the belief of their victims; sadly, it labored. The folks swindled by the Nigerian couple should not alone, as completely different variations of the “Nigerian rip-off” have yielded related outcomes because the early 2000s.
In July 2023, CBS Information reported on the “sextortion” rip-off. Just like the Nebraska couple, these scammers used on-line social media profiles to contact potential victims. The scammer would then ask for salacious photographs of their goal and threaten to launch the photographs if financial calls for weren’t met.
A big portion of those pretend accounts have been discovered on Meta’s Fb — all Nigerian accounts, based on CBS reporting.
So far, Meta has eliminated greater than 63,000 accounts linked to the sextortion schemes.
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