ATLANTA: Olunwadamilare Kolaogunbule spent four years creating fake profiles on dating websites, love bombing women to create the appearance of a romantic relationship then asking his victims for money.
His playbook worked on more than 60 victims across the country from 2014 to 2018, as Kolaogunbule laundered millions of dollars with a co-conspirator in Nigeria.
This month, Kolaogunbule of Smyrna was sentenced to 71 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit money laundering. The US Attorney’s Eastern District of North Carolina has ordered him to pay criminal restitution totalling more than US$2.3mil (RM9.7mil) to victims.
Romance scams hit a record high in 2021 with losses up almost 80% from 2020, according to a recent report from the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers lost US$547mil (RM2.4bil) to scam artists who presented false identities that sounded just real enough to be true.
Most scammers set up fake social media accounts with images stolen from other online profiles and repost them across multiple platforms, something individuals are unable to prevent if they have posted images online. The criminals create fake emails addresses, fake companies and use voice-over Internet protocol numbers to make phone calls.
A military man on an international assignment or a medical doctor on an important overseas mission are just some of the identities…
