Nigerian Scammer Busted in Florida

by Jordan Yerman | August 9, 2007 at 09:49 am

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A routine traffic stop led to the arrest of a member of an identity-theft gang in Tallahassee, Florida. Though the term "Nigerian scam" refers to virtually all of the email-based identity grabs floating around the web, this guy actually is from Nigeria.

Rilwan Soetan, who is on the U.S. Secret Service's "Most Wanted List," was taken into custody in Hamilton County on Tuesday.

Police said Soetan is believed to be part of a $1.7 million identity theft scam.

State Department of Agriculture agents stopped Soetan and found documents with people's personal identifying information, multiple cell phones and $6,000 in cash.

The Secret Service said Soetan is part of an organized group of identity scammers who have ripped off more than 2,000 credit reports.

From the US Secret Service's website:

Rilwan Soetan is a Nigerian national identified as part of an organized group responsible for the compromise of more than 2,000 personal credit reports. Subsequent aggravated identity theft/fraud perpetrated by Soetan and his group have resulted in significant financial losses.

Our very own egoigwe has been keeping tabs on some of these fraud artists; check out a list of known offenders here.