U.S. Department of Justice Charged Hacker for Unauthorized Computer Intrusion and Wire Fraud

Idris Dayo Mustapha, a citizen of the United Kingdom, with computer intrusion, securities fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud was charged in federal court in Brooklyn.

The crime shooted from a variety of alleged criminal behavior between 2011 and 2018 in which Mustapha gained access to U.S.-based computers, including email servers and computers belonging to U.S. financial institutions, to steal money from online bank accounts and securities brokerage accounts. 

In August 2021, Mustapha was arrested in the United Kingdom and the United States is seeking his extradition to the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal Involved in Variety of Computer Intrusions and Frauds

Mustapha and his co-conspirators purportedly obtained login information for victims’ securities brokerage accounts through different methods.  The conspirators then used their access to those accounts to steal money and carry out trades for their own benefit. 

The complaint said that once financial institutions began to block those unauthorized transfers, Mustapha and his co-conspirators accessed other victims’ brokerage accounts and placed unauthorized stock trades within those accounts while simultaneously trading profitably in the same stocks from accounts they controlled.

In another instance, they obtained login information for victims’ email accounts and accessed those accounts without authorization to obtain financial and personal identifying information about their victims. After that, they contacted the victim’s financial institutions over the phone and via email asking the victims’ financial institutions to wire money from the victims to overseas bank accounts that the conspirators controlled.

The United States Attorney Peace stated, “As alleged in the complaint, the defendant was part of a nefarious group that caused millions of dollars in losses to victims by engaging in a litany of cybercrimes, including widespread hacking, fraud, taking control of victims’ securities brokerage accounts, and trading in the name of the victims,” stated United States Attorney Peace.

The Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll says, over the course of many years, Mustafa took over the victim’s email accounts and then stole millions of dollars.

According to the report of the U.S Department of Justice, “Mustapha and his co-conspirators realized financial gains while causing losses of more than $5 million to financial institutions, including brokerage firms”.

Charged for Involving in the Cybercrime

The defendant faces up to 20 years imprisonment for each of the money laundering and wire and securities fraud charges, and a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence for the charge of aggravated identity theft says the report.

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