Nigerian Scam Mastermind Finally Caught by FBI in Illinois

Stop me if you've heard this one before. There's a person claiming to be from Nigeria who's asking you to send him money. Well, that person has finally been caught and convicted by the FBI in Illinois.

The FBI in Chicago just shared this update on their Facebook page today.

The United State's Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Illinois fills in the rest of the details about who was captured and convicted. They said 33-year-old Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju and co-schemers from Nigeria were perpetrators in phishing scams, romance scams, and the filed fraudulent tax returns. He was captured in the UK last year and extradited to America where he pled guilty to fraud. A US judge just sentenced him to 3 1/2 years in federal prison.

"Defendant’s offense involved a years-long, complex scheme, involving several types of scams and many victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Defendant chose to be a willing participant in the scheme over and over again.”

Why are so many scammers from Nigeria?

A few years ago, the BBC shared an article about how scammers in Nigeria are looked up to as role models by the younger generation. They said that the lack of financial stability in Nigeria has been a factor into why many in that country try to gain economic advantage by thieving from others online. Thanks to the actions of the FBI in Illinois, there is one less Nigerian "prince" for Americans to worry about now.