A Nigerian boy has been jailed in UK after he scammed students out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Olajide Onikoyi, 29, from Blackley in Manchester, was among a number of cyber criminals who targeted students by sending them emails inviting them to update details on their student loan account via a link to a bogus website.
When the students accessed the site and dropped their account details, Onikoyi was able to gain access into their accounts and extract large amounts of money.
According to police, the sophisticated phishing scam network used students’ data to collectively steal in excess of £1.5 million.
One victim had £19,000 taken from their account. Onikoyi on his own laundered £393,000 from 238 victims in total.
The scam was identified following a successful operation by detectives from the now-disbanded MPS Police Central e-Crime Unit.
Detectives conducted a complex investigation which included searches of number of addresses in Manchester and London and seizure of a number of computers.
They also worked closely with the Students Loan Company, the banking industry and internet service providers.
Detective Chief Inspector Jason Tunn, of the MPS Cyber Crime Unit, said:
“My officers worked doggedly to secure Onikoyi’s conviction. They examined numerous leads to identify members of this phishing gang, of which Onikoyi was a key member.
He played a significant role in the scam by systematically targeting British students and UK financial institutions in order to steal large amounts of money that were then dispersed across numerous bank accounts.
We’ve had a number of bank accounts and properties connected to Onikoyi restrained under the Proceeds of Crime Act. This is now subject to a financial investigation.”
On Tuesday December 10th 2013 Onikoyi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud UK financial institutions of £393,000 and money laundering.
He has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud and nine months imprisonment for money laundering, to run consecutively.
