On Monday, June 5, 2017, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that a Cameroonian citizen, Eric Donys Simeu, had been sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for phishing campaigns targeting customers of travel booking companies owned by the conglomerate Global Distribution System (“GDS”). The fraud led to the improper issuance of more than $2 million worth of airline tickets. Simeu was extradited from France to Atlanta after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The phishing scam consisted of sending fake emails that mimic official communications from a GDS company in order to deceive users into providing Simeu with their protected account and login information. Once Simeu had received that information, he caused the fraudulent issuance of airline tickets, which he would then sell or use for personal transport. Simeu was captured by French law enforcement on September 3, 2014, pursuant to a federal criminal complaint issued out of the Northern District of Georgia. He was caught while traveling from Casablanca, Morocco to Paris, France on a fraudulently issued ticket with a fraudulent United Kingdom passport, both of which were issued to Simeu under the alias Martell Collins.
In speaking on the case, U.S. Attorney John Horn lauded the effort as indicative of “the global reach of our cyber investigation and prosecution capabilities.” Indeed, it required the cooperation and coordination of domestic and international law enforcement, as well as the victim companies that were targeted, to bring Simeu to justice according to David J. LeValley, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service working alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs.
Simeu pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on December 13, 2016. On May 25, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge William S. Duffey, Jr., sentenced Simeu to four years, ten months in prison and ordered him to pay $162,146 in restitution to Travelport, a GDS company. The case serves as a reminder that companies that are targeted by foreign fraudsters are not without options when it comes to investigation and prosecution of those operating far outside the metes and bounds of the United States.
