Idris Dayo Mustapha, a 33-year-old British-Nigerian man, has confessed to being a member of a hacking ring that cheated and stole over $6 million from US corporations between 2011 and 2018.
Mustapha, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Nigeria, was extradited from the United Kingdom in August, two years after his detention. The cyber operation involved the compromise of email and brokerage accounts, resulting in considerable financial losses for the companies targeted.
Mustapha faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison for his actions. In a Brooklyn, New York court, he just pleaded guilty to four offenses, including computer intrusion, securities fraud, wire fraud, and access device fraud.
The charges derive from his involvement in hacking US financial institution computer servers, allowing illegal access to confidential user data, including personal identifying information. According to the BBC, he is currently awaiting punishment.
Members of the cyber ring, including Mustapha, used the stolen information and passwords to wire dollars and transfer securities from victims’ accounts to the culprits’ accounts.
Without the account holder’s knowledge, the compromised accounts were utilized to perform unlawful stock trading. Before his recent guilty plea in a New York court, US investigators had been actively following Mustapha for several years.
