Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Arrested Nigerian Email Scammer Facing Up To 30 Years In Prison (dallasnews.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the hello-sir-madam dept.

McGruber writes: Amechi Colvis Amuegbunam, 28, a Nigerian man living in the U.S. on a student visa, faces federal wire fraud charges in connection with a sophisticated email phishing scam targeting businesses. He was arrested in Baltimore and charged with scamming 17 North Texas companies out of more than $600,000 using the technique. If convicted, Amuegbunam faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

14 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. $1 million fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No problem. He can get wired from the deposed prince's sister.

  2. I was overjoyed by russotto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...until I learned this was the North Texas scammer. It's the scammers who operate in the Eastern District of Texas who are the real problem there.

  3. One would think... by arth1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One would think that in 2015, executives would digitally sign their e-mails, and those who transfer money verify the digital signatures.
    Even in backwards Texas.

    1. Re:One would think... by txsable · · Score: 2

      Of the hundreds of emails I get each year, want to hazard a guess as to how many actually know what it means to "sign" an email? most think that means typing their name at the bottom. I had a user one ask me to help them set up a digital signature...by which they meant scanning a piece of paper with their signature on it to paste into Word documents. And that was for someone who would be considered an "Executive" level in academia.

    2. Re:One would think... by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Informative

      > One would think that in 2015, executives would digitally sign their e-mails

      Unfortunately, building in digital signatures, means bundling good encryption into common email clients. They're tightly linked technologies, it's awkward if not impossible to have one without the other. That implies coping with the US Department of Commerce, whose regulations are at https://www.bis.doc.gov/index..... Note that similar versoins of those regulations were previously handled by US Customs, but suffered many legal challenges and wee simply transferred to the Dapartment of Commerce to avoid having to follow various legal decisions on their constitutionality and re-apply them as part of a different federal agency.

      These regulations are onerous for businesses engaging in telecommunications. They have effectively hindered and prevented such encryption and digital signatures from becoming widespread for at least the last 30 years. They've also prevented the widespread use of encryption at the Ethernet card or "data link layer": the regulations create unmanagable burdens for companies that want to sell the appropriate switches and network devices.

    3. Re:One would think... by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      I work in IT security. We have various levels of confidentiality, from "public" to levels where even the name of the level itself is already confidential. Everyone who as much as touches documents that are not "public" (i.e. pretty much everyone but the intern, and even there I'm not too certain) gets a three day training course concerning the tools of the trade. How to encrypt, how to decrypt, how to digitally sign, how to verify signatures, the whole deal and then some. Along with the information that failure to comply with these standards can lead to immediate termination. And since we're "only" dealing with financial and not military secrets, I have hope that they mean that you're just fired...

      You would think that people thus motivated and primed would know their security. Moreover, you would think that there are preventive measures in place that ensure you CANNOT accidentally fail to comply. You would think that these measures are being audited routinely and checked for their effectiveness. Instead you have people who ask you to send you a document with a funny security level name in plain text because they don't want to deal with that "security stuff".

      And you expect more from managers who never dealt with security at all?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. I can help! by ravenspear · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Mr Amuegbunam:

    I have been requested by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to contact you in the hope that we may be of assistance to you. Your countrymen are quite distressed at the reporting we have read which states that you are being held and are in need of funds to make bail. We can help you in this matter. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has recently concluded a large number of contracts for oil exploration in the sub-Sahara region. The contracts have immediately produced moneys equaling US$1,500,000. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company is desirous of oil exploration in other parts of the world, however, because of certain regulations of the Nigerian Government, it is unable to move these funds to another region.

    You assistance is requested as a Nigerian citizen to assist the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and also the Central Bank of Nigeria, in moving these funds out of Nigeria. If the funds can be transferred to your name, to your United States account, then you can forward the funds as directed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. In exchange for your accommodating services, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company would agree to allow you to retain 10%, or US$150,000 of this amount. This should be enough for you to post bond.

    However, to be a legitimate transferee of these moneys according to Nigerian law, you must presently be a depositor of at least US$10,000 in a Nigerian bank which is regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    If it will be possible for you to assist us with this initial required deposit, we would be most grateful and can proceed with the funds transfer.
    Please call me at your earliest convenience at 18-467-4975. Time is of the essence in this matter; very quickly the Nigerian Government will realize that the Central Bank is maintaining this amount on deposit, and attempt to levy certain depository taxes on it.

    Yours truly,

    Prince Alyusi Islassis

    1. Re:I can help! by jargonburn · · Score: 2

      Prince All-you-see Is-losses? Beautiful! XD

  5. Re:Nigerian Prince by unixisc · · Score: 2

    Can I donate carbon credits?

  6. Re:People were stupid enough to believe this in 20 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obligatory related web comics.

  7. Re:Seems extremely excessive by Iamthecheese · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't seem excessive to me. These people target the unintelligent, the naive and the desperate. It doesn't look like a lot of money until you realize it's taken from the pockets of those least able to afford it. That money represents thousands of ruined lives. If you ask me I say string that fucker right up.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  8. Re:Good start to 2016, but don't you want to do mo by EmeraldBot · · Score: 2

    Why not just have a charge-back system where every email that gets flagged as Spam costs the sender a penny. Until you pay the fine, you're not allowed to send to more than 100 additional emails before your sending ability is frozen. Legitimate businesses will hardly ever receive more than 100 Spam flags if they offer an opt-out method that actually works. ISPs that continue to host personal domains that don't comply with the charge-back run the risk of being flagged as Open-Relay mail systems and their emails refused. 20 million emails flagged as Spam would incur a $200,000 fine, payable before the next batch of Spam emails could be sent. End of profitability. --

    And who exactly decides and administers these charges? Is a Credit Card number now compulsory for an email account? Do we tie all of the world's email services under a single company responsible for this? What about spam web pages?

    --
    "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
  9. don't lock him up in the states... by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 2

    where prisoner has rights... lots of rights. Strip him of all his wealth and deport his ass to serve out his sentence in a Nigerian prison...

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
  10. It runs on fear by joeblog · · Score: 3

    If I had received an email to wire $100000 from a company executive I'd surely call up and verify.

    These scams work best in extremely hierarchical organisations where underlings are trained to blindly follow orders and to be terrified of questioning their boss. The target organisation also needs to have a culture of dishonesty, else how could a boss demand that an underling wire them money without a valid invoice? Sounds to me like organised crime got taken by a petty crook.

    --
    If it works, it's obsolete