Nigerian gets 8 years for phishing tax firms and stealing identities
His phishing campaigns and fake investment schemes paid millions, but also landed him 8 years behind bars.
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- A Nigerian national received 8 years in prison for hacking tax firms, identity theft, and fraud.
- Prosecutors said the group stole tax and identity data from at least 800 customers.
- The scammers sought $8.4 million in fake tax refunds and obtained at least $2.5 million.
- The court ordered $3.6 million in restitution and forfeiture of nearly $11 million.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A Nigerian national was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his involvement in a series of criminal schemes, including hacking tax preparation firms, identity theft, and fraud.
According to the US Department of Justice, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu – also known as Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung – and other Nigerian co-conspirators took part in a scheme to hack American tax preparation businesses located in New York, Texas, and other states since 2019.
The cybercriminals utilized spearphishing emails to obtain access to these businesses’ electronic systems.
Once they gained access to the companies’ internal systems, they stole tax and other identifying information from at least 800 of the businesses’ customers.
Allegedly, Amachukwu and his accomplices stole the identities of thousands of individuals. The scammers used their victims’ personal details to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state tax authorities.
In total, the con artists filed for $8.4 million in fraudulent tax refunds and obtained at least $2.5 million. In addition, they procured another $819,000 through fraudulent loan applications under the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
Amachukwu also participated in a fake investment scheme, offering potential victims investments in so-called “valuable standby letters of credit.” In reality, the investments didn’t exist.
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The lead suspect impersonated a wealthy overseas financier to fool his victims. Amachukwu and his co-conspirators managed to gain over $7 million in fraudulent proceeds.
“Amachukwu took part in sophisticated schemes to hack into US businesses, steal and use stolen identity information of victims, and commit fraud. These crimes imposed significant harm on the victims and the public, and so it is only appropriate that the crimes also come with a significant sentence for the defendant,” US Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement.
Southern District of New York District Judge Paul G. Gardephe imposed a prison sentence of 8 years on Amachukwu for his role in all of this. In addition to his prison sentence, Amachukwu was sentenced to 1 year of supervised release.
Lastly, the court ordered him to pay $3.6 million in restitution and forfeit nearly $11 million.
