Online Scams: FBI Declared 6 Nigerians Wanted

 Six Nigerian nationals have been federally indicted in Nebraska, wanted in connection with elaborate schemes targeting business executives out of millions of dollars.

The FBI announced the indictments Tuesday in Omaha. The six individuals, believed to be in Nigeria, are accused of conducting business email compromise, romance fraud, and other types of fraud, according to Special Agent Jake Foiles of the Omaha division's Cyber Squad.

Three other co-conspirators have already been arrested: two were apprehended after traveling to the U.S., and another arrested and extradited from Poland, Foiles said..

Business email compromise, or BEC, involves "tricking companies into sending fraudulent payments, either through wire transfers or ACH transfers," Foiles said

These perpetrators focused on victimizing a larger number of people rather than going after larger payments, he said, collecting as many "smaller" wire transfers — from $50,000 to $100,000 — as they could before being detected.

Companies in Nebraska and Iowa have lost millions of dollars due to a single incident like this, he said. The U.S. Department of Treasury said Americans lost over $6 million because of these schemes.

“Money was also stolen from innocent Americans by romance fraud, in which the designees masqueraded as affectionate partners to gain trust from victims.”