A Nigerian man in the US, Opeyemi Olujobi, and his wife Jennie Davidson face up to 50 years in prison after arrest in Poughkeepsie, New York, for a massive credit card fraud scheme.
Scheme Details
From May 2023 to October 2024, the pair allegedly stole identities—using victims’ Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses, and phones—to hijack over 200 store credit card accounts at a major financial firm. They rerouted accounts to their Hopewell Junction addresses, swapped phone numbers, reported cards “lost,” received replacements, then spent $575,000 on gift cards and merchandise at retailers.
Prosecution Claims
US Attorney Jay Clayton announced charges Wednesday; the couple appears Friday before a White Plains magistrate. Surveillance videos captured them using the cards, with calls to banks overriding declines or boosting limits to sustain purchases.
Investigators said the defendants allegedly used sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, birth dates, phone numbers, and home addresses, to impersonate legitimate cardholders.
Clayton continued, “From at least May 2023 through October 2024, Olujobi, Davidson, and/or their co-conspirators contacted a publicly traded consumer financial services company and used other people’s names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, and addresses to falsely identify themselves as the true accountholders of over 200 store credit card accounts.
After gaining access to the cardholders’ accounts, the perpetrators changed the address listed on the account to one of four addresses in Hopewell Junction, New York, including their residence, and also altered victims’ phone numbers to those controlled by members of the scheme.”
Authorities further explained that the suspects reported the compromised cards as missing and requested replacements, which were then delivered to locations under their control.
Once in possession of the cards, the duo allegedly made purchases across several retail outlets, primarily buying gift cards and merchandise.
After they obtained their victims’ credit cards, Olujobi, Davidson, and/or their co-conspirators used those cards at various retail locations to make around $575,000 in unauthorised purchases of gift cards and other merchandise.
Video surveillance associated with many of these transactions shows Olujobi and Davidson using the stolen cards,” the statement added
Prosecutors also claimed that the suspects sometimes contacted financial institutions to authorise declined transactions or request increased credit limits to continue their spending.
