US convicts Nigerian BEC scammer

SecurityWeek reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Nigerian national Solomon Ekunke Okpe has been sentenced to four years and one-month imprisonment for his involvement in several business email compromise, romance, check-cashing, and work-from-home scams that included MidFirst Bank and First American Holding Company as some of its victims. More than $1 million in losses have been reported by U.S. businesses, banks, and individuals from Okpe's schemes, which included the use of phishing emails to facilitate credential and other data theft, online account compromise, and stolen credit card usage, according to the Justice Department. Banks and other firms have also been duped by Okpe and his co-conspirators to transfer funds to attacker-controlled accounts. Aside from impersonating online employers that sought to hire work-from-home employees, who have been asked to enable fraudulent activities, including counterfeit check deposits, Okpe and others have also created fake dating website accounts to lure individuals into transferring money or receive wire-transfer scam proceeds.