A Nigerian man, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested by British authorities after allegedly hacking into a Pennsylvania-based construction company’s email system, ultimately diverting $235,000 to fraudulent accounts. The crime, which spans across continents, involved complex wire and computer fraud schemes that victimized a university in the US.
The arrest, which took place on September 15, 2025, followed an international request from the United States, where Adepoju now faces charges related to wire fraud and computer fraud. The Department of Justice in the US released a statement confirming that Adepoju’s actions were highly calculated, involving the manipulation of the company’s email system to misdirect payments meant for the university.
In a statement, Acting US Attorney Troy Rivetti said, “Adepoju is charged with using sophisticated cyber means to illegally access accounts belonging to a business in order to victimise one of our region’s universities.” Rivetti added that this global crime demonstrates the reach and capability of cybercriminals, even when operating from halfway across the world.
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Between March and April 2023, Adepoju allegedly gained unauthorized access to the construction company’s protected computer, altered email settings, and created a spoofed domain to send fraudulent instructions. As a result, the university updated its payment records to a fake account controlled by the Nigerian hacker, unknowingly transferring $235,266 to Adepoju.
The funds are yet to be recovered. The FBI’s Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge, Kevin Rojek, emphasized the serious nature of email compromise schemes, noting, “Criminals who think they can reach across the globe into the United States to line their pockets at the expense of the American public need to know one thing: the FBI and our partners are not going to let you get away with it.”
Adepoju now faces six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud. Each wire fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, with the computer fraud charge adding an additional five years.
