3 men have been jailed for a total of 235 years after defrauding millions of people by using online dating sites.
The suspects – Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, 30, Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, 31 and Femi Alexander Mewase, 45 each got 95 years, 115 years and 25 years in the slammer for their racket that dates back to 2001..
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, they were among six Nigerians extradited from South Africa by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2015 to face charges of running a series of scams against gullible Americans.
The sentencing comes after a court in the Southern District of Mississippi in February found them all guilty of crimes including mail fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud and theft of government property.
The U.S. Department of Justice claims the scammers were involved in multiple internet fraud schemes, resulting in losses in tens of millions.
Ayelotan and Raheem were also found guilty of conspiracies to commit bank fraud and money laundering.
According to the International Police Organization (Interpol), West African scammers pulled in over $3bn in online rackets over the past three years. The international police force said the reason the area is such a hive of online criminality is because of low employment prospects in the region for computer specialists.
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