[T]wo Nigerian men pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges related to a scheme that targeted Vermont state employees with phishing emails in order to steal personal information.
Osariemen Isibor and Eneye Dania pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Rutland.
Federal authorities say the two men circulated emails to state employees and others that led recipients to believe that the emails gave them access to information related to filing their tax returns.
However, instead, Isibor and Dania were able to collect the victims’ login credentials through the scheme. They then could access those people’s personal data on their W-2 tax forms.
Federal authorities say Isibor and Dania would use that personal information to get victims’ tax refunds by filing false returns.
Court filings include a surveillance photo from a Texas bank where Dania deposited a total of $17,500 in cash into an account in Isibor’s name.
A sentencing hearing for the two men is expected later this year.
Vermont Tax Commissioner Kaj Samsom said Friday that no Vermont tax refunds were paid out to the perpetrators of the scheme.
State tax officials were made aware of the phishing attack at the time and monitored for potentially fraudulent tax returns filed in the names of state employees who may have been victims, he said. Those accounts continue to have an extra layer of scrutiny, he said.
Samsom, who was deputy commissioner at the Department of Financial Regulation at the time of the phishing scheme, recalled getting the email. He recognized it as suspicious and deleted it.
He advised the public to be cautious when confronted with suspicious emails and phone calls from people seeking sensitive information. Do not give your information out directly, he said, but check further to determine if the request is on the level.
For instance, if a caller claims to be with the Vermont Tax Department, he suggests hanging up and following up by going to the department’s website, getting a phone number, and calling to see if the issue is legitimate.
The Vermont Tax Department is part of a nationwide network that shares information about fraud schemes between state and federal tax authorities.
“We’ve already received calls this season and blocked fraud this season,” Samsom said.
On a recent day, the Tax Department blocked five refund requests that were known to be false, Samsom said. All together, they would have totaled $12,000.
