Nigerian Man Babatunde Ayeni Jailed 10 Years In The US For Large Scale Fraud

A 33-year-old Nigerian man, Babatunde Francis Ayeni, was recently sentenced to 10 years in a U.S. federal prison after pleading guilty to his role in a large-scale cyber fraud scheme. 

This scheme, which defrauded over 400 victims across the United States, primarily targeted real estate transactions through a business email compromise (BEC) approach. By sending phishing emails with malicious links, Ayeni and his accomplices gained access to the email accounts of real estate professionals. They then manipulated these compromised accounts to redirect large financial transactions into their own accounts, resulting in nearly $20 million in losses.

Many victims of this scam, including homebuyers, were unable to recover their funds in time, leading to severe financial and emotional harm. The FBI and U.S. prosecutors emphasized the impact of cyber-enabled crimes and reiterated their commitment to pursuing such cases aggressively. Ayeni's co-conspirators, based in Nigeria and the UAE, remain at large, and U.S. authorities are continuing efforts to arrest and extradite them.