Y'all have heard the Nigerian scam artists stereotypes; where individuals take caution with their emails. Well, one student took the infamous label to an entirely different level and went after big U.S. companies.

According to Dallas News, Nigerian student Amechi Colvis Amuegbunam posing as a CEO of many U.S. companies. And they fell for it! Amuegbunam ended up scamming employees out of millions of dollars.

In what the FBI has deemed "more sophisticated than any similar scam the FBI has seen before," the scam is called Business Email Compromise (BEC). Amuegbunam reportedly sent forwarded email messages to company employees by interchanging letters in actual company emails so that it appeared he had the authority as a top company executive to wire money. Investigators learned about his scams in 2013 when two North Texas companies fell victim to his tricks. He ended up tricking more than 10 victims out of approximately $3.7 million.

According to court records, the 30-year-old was living in the U.S. on a student visa at the time. Amuegbunam pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and a federal judge sentenced him to 46 months in federal prison.

"Mr. Amuegbunam has grown tremendously as a person and as a man throughout the process of this criminal case," said his attorney Ezekiel "Zeke" Tyson. "He is absolutely one of the most intelligent and creative individuals I have ever represented."

Following his prison stint, he will be deported to Nigeria where he plans to become a farmer, per Tyson.

"I expect once he puts his intelligence, creativity, and drive towards legitimate enterprises, he will have a very positive future," Tyson continued. "Mr. Amuegbunam also plans to do his best to repay the restitution he owes to the victim companies."

Nigerian scams

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