18-Year-Old Nigerian Man Sentenced For Sc@mming American Man Of $800 After Pretending To Be A Woman With A Fake $250m Lottery Story
An 18-year-old suspected internet fra¥dster, Hassan Usman Olamilekan, has been convicted and sentenced by the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, for defra¥ding an American citizen of $800 through a gift card sc@m.
Justice Dipeolu convicted Olamilekan on Friday, October 30, 2026, after he pleaded guilty to a one-count money la¥ndering charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court ordered him to pay a ₦200,000 fine and remit ₦1 million to the Federal Government as restitution. He will remain in a correctional centre until both payments are made. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone 11 Pro and Poco C71 phones.
According to the EFCC, Olamilekan allegedly met his victim, an American citizen identified as Gary Brewer, on the Zangi messaging application, where he impersonated a white American woman named Julie Leach.
He reportedly told Brewer that he had won a $250 million lottery prize but needed money to activate the winnings before he could claim the money. He subsequently persuaded the American to send him gift cards worth $800.
The EFCC said the teenager sold the gift cards through the Cardsonic application, converted the proceeds into naira and transferred the money to his grandmother’s OPay account.
“He confessed to benefiting from a total of $800 from the fra¥dulent scheme,” the anti-graft agency said.
The charge stated that Olamilekan had “indirectly disguised the origin of the sum of $800 (Eight Hundred United States Dollars) in gift cards, which sum forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity.”
The EFCC further disclosed that the defendant, who claimed to be from the Republic of Benin but was born in Nigeria, operated several social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Zangi and iMessage, which he allegedly used for fra¥dulent activities.
Olamilekan was among 21 suspected internet fra¥dsters arrested during an EFCC sting operation at Applewood Estate, Orchid Road, Lekki, Lagos, on October 26, 2026.
