The US government has sanctioned six Nigerians over
$6million cyber fraud against its citizens.
Micheal Pompeo, US secretary of state, disclosed this in a
statement published on the department of state’s website, on Tuesday.
The six persons were identified as:
- Kayode Abiola
- Ogunshakin Alex
- Okpoh Felix
- Olorunyomi Micheal
- Uzuh Richard
Information from the US department of treasury website
showed that the perpetrators of the fraud are between the ages of 32 and 37.
The US government also included the names of the Nigerians
in its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) specially designated nationals
list, under the section of “cyber-related designation”.
Pompeo said the victims were defrauded through the use of
sensitive information and financial resources derived by manipulative means.
He said the US government will not tolerate any fraud act
against its citizens, adding that the country would also prevent an abuse of
technology.
“Technological advancements that provide greater
interconnectivity also offer greater opportunity for exploitation by malicious
actors who target at-risk Americans,” the statement read.
“Today, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice,
the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control took action
against six Nigerian nationals, pursuant to Executive Order 13694 as amended,
for conducting an elaborate online scheme to steal more than $6 million from
victims across the United States.
“The six individuals designated today manipulated their
victims to gain access to their sensitive information and financial resources.
The U.S. will not tolerate such gross misuse of technology.
“The United States will use all of the tools at our disposal
to defend the American people and businesses from malign actors that seek to
target them, including cyber-enabled actors who prey on vulnerable Americans
and businesses.”
In May, government officials in Washington acknowledged that
the state lost hundreds of millions of dollars to a fraud ring suspected to be
perpetrated by Nigerians.
It had earlier been reported that the attackers are
suspected to have used information about US citizens such as social security
numbers to file for unemployment claims on behalf of people who have not been
laid off.
It is suspected that social security numbers of first
responders, government personnel and school employees were compiled from
previous cyber hack activities.
Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the state employment security
department (ESD), had said law enforcement agents are working on recovering as
much money as possible and the department has taken steps to prevent new
fraudulent unemployment claims from being filed or paid.
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