Farouk Adekunle Adepoju Faces Extradition for Allegedly Hacking U.S. University, Stealing $235,000

A Nigerian national based in the United Kingdom, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested and is awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of wire fraud and computer fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti announced.

Adepoju was picked up by U.K. authorities on September 15, 2025, following a request from the U.S. government. He faces a seven-count indictment in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

According to the unsealed indictment, Adepoju allegedly carried out the cyberattack between March and April 2023, targeting a Western Pennsylvania construction company contracted by a university. Prosecutors say he hacked into the company’s computer system, manipulated email rules, and created a spoofed account that tricked the university into wiring $235,266.80 into a fraudulent bank account. The money has not been recovered.

“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,” Rivetti stated in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “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 cybercriminals targeting U.S. institutions:
“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.”

Adepoju is charged with six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud counts and five years for computer fraud.

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