Two people have been indicted on charges of stealing some $500,000 in a scam that involved hacking victims' email accounts and sending messages on their behalf authorizing large transfers of cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
The victims include a Redwood City couple who lost $312,000 after the suspects sent an email that appeared to be from Yahoo, asking users to log in and verify their username and password information. Once the victims did so, the suspects captured the data and used it to send emails from their account, including a message to an investment adviser directing a transfer of hundreds of thousands of dollars to an outside account.
The suspects have been identified as Bernard Ogie Oretekor, 43, from Ellenwood, Ga., and Chantale Petit-Frere, 47, of Brooklyn, N.Y. and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Oretekor was also charged with seven counts of money laundering.
In another local case, Oretekor and Petit-Frere defrauded Walnut Creek-based L. Investments out of $100,000 after hacking into an operation manager's email and directing the company to transfer funds to an outside account, according to the indictment. The suspects defrauded four victims out of a total of $500,000 and tried to defraud victims out of another $330,000, although those transfers were spotted in time and stopped.