A Nigerian man living in the United Kingdom, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested after being accused of hacking into a United States university’s systems and stealing over $235,000.
According to U.S. authorities, Adepoju was taken into custody by police in the U.K. on September 15, 2025, and is waiting to be extradited to Pennsylvania to face trial. He has been charged with six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud.
The indictment revealed that between March and April 2023, Adepoju allegedly broke into the computer of a Western Pennsylvania construction company that was working for a university. Investigators said he tampered with email settings, created a fake email account, and tricked the university into wiring about $235,266.80 to a fraudulent account. The money has not been recovered.
Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti said in a statement, “Adepoju is charged with using sophisticated cyber means to illegally access accounts belonging to a business in order to victimize one of our region’s universities. Even from halfway across the world, however, Adepoju was not beyond the investigative reach of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek also warned others who might attempt similar crimes. “Criminals who think they can reach across the globe into the United States to line their pockets at the expense of the American public need know one thing: the FBI and our partners are not going to let you get away with it.”
If found guilty, Adepoju could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and up to five years for computer fraud.
