A Nigerian national pleaded guilty to defrauding homeowners and real estate professionals out of down payments in a “man-in-the-middle” email phishing and spoofing scheme.
According to an announcement by the office of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Kolade Akinwale Ojelade sent phishing emails to real estate businesses, gained unauthorized access to many of their accounts, and monitored their email traffic to determine when large transactions were about to take place. Ojelade was able to intercept wire payment instructions and then changed the information, resending the emails via spoofed email addresses that were similar to the original senders’ addresses.
The victims of Ojelade’s schemes were prospective homeowners wiring money to real estate companies and real estate companies wiring money to title companies. Ojelade’s victims received the modified wiring instructions directing funds transfers into accounts controlled by Ojelade and his co-conspirators. Once the funds hit the accounts, the fraudsters withdrew the money or transferred it into other bank accounts.
Ojelade was residing in the UK when he was indicted in February 2023. He was extradited to the US in April and pleaded guilty last Wednesday to wire fraud affecting a financial institution and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 32 years in federal prison and will be subject to deportation upon completing his sentence.
“Unfortunately, sophisticated phishing and spoofing attacks can ensnare even the most tech-savvy among us – they can be disastrous for companies and absolutely calamitous for individuals,” said US Attorney Leigha Simonton. “We look forward to holding this defendant accountable for the financial devastation he has wrought.”
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Fraud happens every day, I had a man call me to list his property and he provided a passport as an identification. Fortunately, we found the real owner and asked if he wanted to sell. The listing was removed immediately from MLS and I blocked his number, I do not know who to contact about this fraud to stop others from doing this.
My brother-in-law was called by a local agent asking if he was selling his property. She was doing some due diligence to validate a call she’d received supposedly from the owner of the property stating he was out of town but wanting help getting a survey done so he could list the property. He would send her a check to more than cover the survey, she would pay for the survey and send him the leftover funds. The scam was that the check he provided was bad but that wouldn’t be discovered until after she sent him the money. The carrot was that she would get the listing if she helped him get a survey. She would have ended up out the survey fee and the balance she had sent to him and with no listing. Be wary!
Not sure what the relevance of his nationality is other than to play into stereotypes. If the facts were different, would the headline read “French Man Pleads Guilty….” ?
Yes, because this story involves someone outside of the US targeting American homeowners and real estate professionals.
Yes, or it might have read “Texas (or any other place( Man Pleads Guilty”.
Good point – that had crossed my mind.
I agree with you Rick
Thank you so much for commenting/posting!
Any potential client who asks for money is highly suspect no matter who they SAY they are…
So Never, Ever:
Pay/send/transfer money based on any unverified conversation or email.
Provide any personal information, photos, addresses about yourself, a client or anyone else.
Be bullied, beguiled or rushed into bypassing thorough, multi-level due diligence.
Always:
Report suspicious/fraudulent activity to police, FCC, etc. , to everyone who could be harmed and to your broker & local R.E. board.
Post (as above) for the benefit and safety of others.
Know that legitimate/desirable clients understand & cooperate with your screening process.
Nice that they mentioned where this crook was from, lest we might have assumed it was a WHITE AMERICAN CITIZEN, Now we know where this scum is from – the land of most scams affecting US CITIZENS! Guessing when EVERYONE IS WOKE – it will be a felony to mention ANYTHING!
I have a news flash… any time someone is brought up on charges, has an accident, getting married, died, got drafted in the NLF, wrote a novel, or went to the moon, they usually list WHERE the person ifs from.
Wish people would stop trying to play GOTCHA with a simple, realistic, explanation of a storyline!