A Ghanaian national had pleaded guilty to scamming countless victims as part of a global fraud ring that engaged in romance fraud and business email compromise (BEC).
The Justice Department announced the guilty plea for Derrick Van Yeboah, 40, late last week.
The fraud operation, which was primarily based in Ghana, is said to have caused over $100m in losses, 10% of which were pinned on Van Yeboah.
As per typical scams of this kind, he impersonated romantic partners in online communications with vulnerable victims.
After gaining their trust over time, he would then trick them into sending their money to the gang. Van Yeboah also admitted helping his co-conspirators launder funds from other victims.
Read more on romance scams: Brits Lose £106m to Romance Fraud in a Year.
Van Yeboah also participated in BEC attacks on businesses, impersonating senior corporate leaders or suppliers in order to trick victims into wiring funds to a bank account under his control.
Van Yeboah pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He agreed to make restitution and pay forfeiture to the tune of a little over $10.1m.
The plea follows the extradition and indictment of Van Yeboah and two other Ghanaians in August last year.
“Many New Yorkers search for companionship online, and no one deserves to have their vulnerability met with fraud and theft. Van Yeboah cruelly exploited those vulnerabilities for over $10m in illicit profit,” said US attorney Jay Clayton. “Today’s plea is a reminder to be vigilant online – especially on dating websites, never give money to someone you just met – and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
A Multibillion-Dollar Business
Both romance fraud and BEC are big earners for cybercriminals. The FBI received nearly 18,000 reports of romance/confidence fraud in 2024 – the latest year for which records are available. Associated losses exceeded $672m.
BEC raked in even more cash for nefarious actors: nearly $2.8bn in the same year on the back of 21,442 complaints, according to the FBI.
West Africa isn’t the only global hub for such crimes. South East Asia is home to many scam compounds which essentially use trafficked victims to perpetrate romance and investment fraud.
A UN report published last year warned that these scam operations were “spreading like a cancer” across the globe, while making billions of dollars in profits for cybercrime bosses.
Only occasionally do perpetrators get caught and convicted. Last month, Chinese national Daren Li, 42 was sentenced to two decades in a US jail for his part in a global crypto-investment fraud scheme which cost victims over $73m.