Citibank needs a better spam filter. Not happy with the typical Nigerian 419 email scam, one man aimed a bit higher, prosecutors say. Paul Gabriel Amos, 37 a citizen of Nigeria has been charged in New York with one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in an attempt to swindle Citibank out of $27 million.
Amos is accused of an elaborate scheme starting in September when Citibank received forged documents authorizing fax transactions from an account held by the National Bank of Ethiopia. The documents also listed contact information for people who could give voice approval for the fax transactions.
In October, Amos is accused of initiating dozens of transactions totaling $27 million from the National Bonk of Ethiopia’s account to accounts controlled by his co-conspirators. The telephone numbers listed for authorization were cell phones in Nigeria.
The scam was discovered when some of the receiving banks returned the money because they could not contact the owner of the accounts. The amount actually transferred to the scammers is unknown, although Citibank is covering any losses.