U.S. extradites Nigerians behind $5M BEC fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that three Nigerians Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo, Olabanji Egbinola, and Donald Ikenna Echeazu have been extradited from the U.K. to answer to an indictment regarding their involvement in business email compromise fraud targeted at various universities and other construction projects across the U.S., which has resulted in more than $5 million in losses, SecurityWeek reports. More than $1.9 million has been defrauded by the defendants from a North Carolina university as part of a BEC attack, which involved spoofing the email address of a construction firm enlisted by the university in its multi-million-dollar construction project, the indictment alleges. Another construction company also had its email impersonated by Olabanji Egbinola to lure a Virginia-based university to provide nearly $470,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. has also charged Adeagbo for a BEC scheme that attempted to steal more than $3 million from construction firms, local governments, and a Texas-based college.