A Nigerian man, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested in the United Kingdom for allegedly orchestrating a sophisticated email scam that defrauded a U.S. university of over $235,000. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed his arrest on September 15, 2025, stating that he is awaiting extradition to the Western District of Pennsylvania.
According to court documents, Adepoju is accused of hacking into the email system of a Pennsylvania-based construction company that had a contract with a U.S. university. Between March and April 2023, he allegedly gained remote access to the company’s systems, manipulated email settings, and created fake email accounts to impersonate company staff.
Using these spoofed accounts, Adepoju is said to have sent fraudulent payment instructions to the university. Believing the emails to be legitimate, the university updated the contractor’s payment information and wired approximately $235,266 to an account controlled by Adepoju. The funds, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti, have not been recovered.
The case highlights the growing threat of Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, which the FBI describes as one of the most costly cyber threats facing organizations today. Both the DOJ and the FBI have issued strong warnings that such crimes will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted, regardless of where the perpetrators are located.
Adepoju faces a seven-count indictment, including six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud. If convicted, each wire fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the computer fraud charge could result in a five-year sentence. Authorities emphasized that these charges are allegations and Adepoju is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
