A Nigerian man and his lover have been jailed in Dagenham, a district and suburban town in East London, England, for hacking into 700 bank accounts and mobile phones.

Local reports said that Oluwaseun Ajayi and Inga Irbe placed orders for upgrades on the mobile phones of their victims during a fraud lasting more than six years, netting them more than £12,000.

The pair also applied for bank accounts, loans and credit cards in their victims’ names without their knowledge.

Det Insp Gary Myers said:

“Ajayi and Irbe committed these offences in a manner that showed a lot of pre-planning and deception.

“However, they were not able to deceive officers who carried out a thorough investigation which has brought these two criminals to justice.

“While cyber crime can often be complex and investigations take months, Met officers will not relent in pursuing those that hide behind their keyboards to steal other people’s money and make their lives a misery.”

The police came knocking in a second search four months later, seizing an iPhone, Huawei and two Nokia mobile phones, SIM cards, an iPad, Dell laptop, iPad, bank cards, correspondence and £1,200 in £50 notes.

Officers also found a Dell laptop with a blue USB stick in it when searching the back garden.

Oluwaseun Ajayi and Irbe were then arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation for accessing 27 customers’ accounts, refusing to reply when cautioned.

They were charged again with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between May 11, 2016 and May 14, 2018 at locations across London.

Ajayi, 39, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Friday, January 10 to five years, six months. Irbe, 49, was sentenced at the same court to a 12-month community order and 170 hours of unpaid work.

They were found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between February 1, 2012 and May 14, 2018 at the same court on November 27 last year.