Nigerian national gets 8 years for US tax-prep spearphishing
Original title: Hacker gets 8 years for stealing $3.3 million from taxpayers
The court also imposed one year of supervised release, $3.6 million in restitution, and forfeiture of nearly $11 million.
Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, 40, was sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. Prosecutors say he and Nigerian co-conspirators spearphished US tax-preparation businesses from 2019 to 2021, stole tax data and PII for at least 800 customers, and used it for fraudulent IRS, state-tax, and SBA loan filings. He was extradited from France in August 2025. A separate fake standby-letter-of-credit investment scheme allegedly took more than $7 million.
Unconfirmed: The roughly $2.5 million refund figure is described as alleged, while the sentence and restitution order are stated as imposed.
- Targets included tax-preparation businesses in New York, Texas, and other US states.
- Court documents cite about $2.5 million in fraudulent refunds after $8.4 million was claimed.
- Another $819,000 came through SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications.
- Co-defendant Kingsley Uchelue Utulu is named alongside other Nigerian co-conspirators.
Impact: Stolen tax data and PII used for fraudulent refunds and loans
- ATT&CK
- T1566 Phishing
- Countries
- NigeriaUnited StatesFrance
From the original article
2 min read at bleepingcomputer.com
A Nigerian national was sentenced to eight years in prison for his involvement in a series of spearphishing attacks targeting US tax preparation businesses since 2019. [...]
By Sergiu Gatlan · bleepingcomputer.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.