By Deborah Nnamdi
A Nigerian man based in the United Kingdom, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested at the request of the United States over allegations of wire fraud and computer fraud.
U.K. authorities took Adepoju into custody on September 15, 2025, and he is awaiting extradition to the Western District of Pennsylvania to face a seven-count indictment, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti.
Court documents allege that between March and April 2023, Adepoju hacked into the computer of a Western Pennsylvania construction company contracted by a university. He allegedly altered email rules, created a spoofed email account, and tricked the university into transferring $235,266.80 into a fraudulent bank account. The funds have not been recovered.
“Adepoju is charged with using sophisticated cyber means to illegally access accounts belonging to a business to victimize one of our region’s universities,” Rivetti said in a press release, stressing that the suspect was not beyond the reach of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek warned that cybercriminals who believe they can operate from abroad to exploit Americans “need to know one thing: the FBI and our partners are not going to let you get away with it.”
Adepoju faces six counts of wire fraud, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of computer fraud, which carries up to five years.
