Nigerian Scammer Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju Sentenced to 43 Months for Phishing, Romance and Tax Return Fraud

Case from 2025 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: June 18, 2025). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju, 33, of Lagos, Nigeria, was sentenced on June 17, 2025, to 43 months in federal prison for running phishing, romance and fraudulent tax return schemes from Nigeria that targeted U.S. citizens and businesses, including in the Chicago area, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

How the schemes worked

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office [1]:

1. Several scams at once: Adepoju and co-schemers ran multiple schemes from Nigeria, including phishing, romance scams and the filing of fraudulent tax returns.
2. Spoofed emails: They used multiple spoofed email addresses.
3. Fake personas: They created fictional social media personas.
4. Money mules: They moved money through people who did not know they were being used.

The person sentenced

Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju, 33, Lagos, Nigeria [1]

• Arrest: arrested in 2024 in the United Kingdom and extradited to the United States.
• Plea: pleaded guilty in March 2025 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
• Sentence: 43 months in federal prison, imposed June 17, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly.
• Investigation: IRS Criminal Investigation and FBI Chicago; prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini.

"Defendant chose to be a willing participant in the scheme over and over again," Ursini wrote in the government's sentencing memorandum, according to the release [1].

Red flags

• Emails from a familiar address asking you to change payment details or wire money. Look closely for one-letter differences in the address.
• An online love interest who can't meet and soon needs money, or asks you to receive and forward funds.
• Requests to move money for someone else. This can make you an unwitting money mule.
• An IRS notice about a return you didn't file, which may signal tax identity theft.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Verify payment changes by phone using a number you already have, not one in the email.
2. Never forward money for someone you've only met online.
3. Report phishing and romance scams to the FBI at ic3.gov. Report tax identity theft at identitytheft.gov and to the IRS.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju, 33, Lagos, Nigeria	N.D. Ill. (Judge Kennelly)	Pleaded guilty March 2025 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft; sentenced June 17, 2025, to 43 months	[1]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Foreign National Sentenced to Prison for Conducting Cyber Scams That Victimized U.S. Citizens and Businesses," June 18, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/foreign-national-sentenced-prison-conducting-cyber-scams-victimized-us-citizens-and

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