Durham Herald Sun Logo

Feds arrest Durham man for phishing scam | Durham Herald Sun

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • Subscribe
    • Buy Photo
    • Newsletters
    • Archives

  • Business
    • All Entertainment
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Arts
    • Books
    • Movies/TV
    • Friday Calendar
    • Submit a Friday Calendar event
    • Puzzles & Games
    • All Living
    • Faith
    • Food
    • Home & Garden
    • Celebrations
    • Local
    • Crime
    • Durham County
    • Orange County
    • Chatham County
    • Education
    • Weather
    • Carolinas News
    • North Carolina
    • National News
    • World News
    • All News
    • Submit a News Tip
    • All Sports
    • NCCU
    • Duke
    • NCSU
    • UNC
    • Durham Bulls
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
  • Obituaries
    • All Opinion
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit A Letter
    • All Politics
    • The North Carolina Influencer Series
    • State Politics
    • Elections

  • Advertise With Us
    • Classified Ads
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Jobs
    • Place a Classifieds

Durham County

Feds arrest Durham man for phishing scam

Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

August 04, 2017 03:39 PM

NEW HAVEN, Conn.

A Nigerian citizen from Durham has been arrested in a phishing scheme that targeted school districts in Connecticut and Minnesota in an effort to get employees’ personal information and file bogus tax returns, federal authorities said Friday.

Daniel Adekunle Ojo was arrested Thursday on fraud and identity theft charges at his home in Durham, North Carolina, according to an announcement by Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly. A federal magistrate judge ordered him detained and transferred to Connecticut.

Prosecutors said a school district employee in Glastonbury, Connecticut, received an email in February that appeared to be sent by another employee, who asked for tax information for 1,600 school district workers. The worker who received the email then forwarded the information, which was used in the scheme to file 122 bogus tax returns seeking nearly $600,000 in refunds, authorities said.

Officials said the Internal Revenue Service processed about six of the fake returns and electronically deposited nearly $37,000 in refunds to various bank accounts.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Herald Sun

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Investigators linked the email sent to the employee to Ojo, prosecutors said.

Officials also believe Ojo was involved in similar email schemes targeting school districts in Groton, Connecticut, and Bloomington, Minnesota.

In March, a Groton school employee emailed tax information of 1,300 employees in response to an email that appeared to be from the superintendent of schools. Authorities said the information was used to file about 66 fraudulent tax returns seeking about $364,000 in refunds. Officials said the fake returns weren’t processed because they had been flagged as being part of an identity theft scheme after school employees discovered the problem.

Prosecutors also said they linked the email account used by Ojo to a similar scam that obtained tax information for about 2,800 school employees in Bloomington earlier this year.

Eric Placke, a federal public defender in North Carolina who represented Ojo only for his initial court appearance, declined to comment Friday. It’s not clear who Ojo’s attorney will be in Connecticut.

Authorities said Ojo entered the U.S. in May 2016 on a visitor’s visa and failed to leave on his scheduled departure date in June 2016.

Daly urged the public to double-check links and email addresses before clicking on and responding to them, to avoid becoming an identity theft victim.

  Comments  

Videos

Three found dead in pool at Durham apartments

NCCU relaunches branding with new video

View More Video

Trending Stories

Bladen County operative ‘told us what we were to say’ at hearing, worker testifies

February 18, 2019 06:00 AM

Durham mayor calls for $95 million affordable housing bond

February 18, 2019 08:52 PM

Gene therapy company doubles plans for RTP jobs after receiving incentives

February 18, 2019 12:14 PM

No, there was no earthquake on the SC coast. Here’s what officials say really happened

February 19, 2019 08:14 AM

Operative at center of NC election fraud hearing won’t testify

February 18, 2019 02:16 PM
Tweets by TheHerald_Sun

Read Next

Some Durham schools face overcrowding, even as the district as a whole is shrinking
Video media Created with Sketch.

Local

Some Durham schools face overcrowding, even as the district as a whole is shrinking

By Shelbi Polk

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 06:42 PM

Some of Durham’s public schools are overcrowded, and several school board members are hoping to get a new high school and a new elementary school approved.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Herald Sun

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE DURHAM COUNTY

Police think same man may be responsible for 3 Durham bank robberies this month

Local

Police think same man may be responsible for 3 Durham bank robberies this month

February 19, 2019 05:29 PM
Durham man injured after being shot in the head, deputies say

Local

Durham man injured after being shot in the head, deputies say

February 19, 2019 05:04 PM
LGBT Durham councilwoman thanks Catholic school students for ‘overcoming bigotry’

Local

LGBT Durham councilwoman thanks Catholic school students for ‘overcoming bigotry’

February 19, 2019 04:50 PM
Have questions about the Durham-Orange light-rail project? Here are some answers.

Local

Have questions about the Durham-Orange light-rail project? Here are some answers.

February 19, 2019 03:54 PM
Orange County contract spells out responsibilities, costs of bus and rail improvements

Local

Orange County contract spells out responsibilities, costs of bus and rail improvements

February 19, 2019 02:47 PM
Here’s how rural residents could benefit from the Orange County bus and rail plan

Local

Here’s how rural residents could benefit from the Orange County bus and rail plan

February 19, 2019 02:44 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Durham Herald Sun App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Advertise with Us
  • Place a Classifieds
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story