Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/ --- description: A federal judge imposed 33 months in prison and $196,500 in restitution. Prosecutors described repeated $500 gift-card requests made under a false online identity. title: Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-about-15-000-gift-cards-a33de54e33965ff2e74deeb3eb3e888b.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) # Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards A federal judge imposed 33 months in prison and $196,500 in restitution. Prosecutors described repeated $500 gift-card requests made under a false online identity. By [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 8, 2026 2 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Odiboh+sentenced+in+romance+fraud+that+took+about+%2415%2C000+in+gift+cards&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Odiboh+sentenced+in+romance+fraud+that+took+about+%2415%2C000+in+gift+cards+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Chart showing approximately thirty five-hundred-dollar gift cards, representing about fifteen thousand dollars paid by one victim in the Odiboh fraud case](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2-w1280.webp) The gift-card payments reported for one victim in the Odiboh case. Prosecutors described the number of cards and gift-card total as approximate; other victims and payment methods are not included in this figure. Photo: Gift Card News, based on U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York Stephen Odiboh has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison in a fraud conspiracy that persuaded one victim to send approximately $15,000 in gift cards. The [U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York](https://giftcard.news/organization/u-s-attorney-s-office-for-the-western-district-of-new-york/) announced the sentence on October 8, along with an order to pay $196,500 in restitution. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Odiboh, 53, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors said he contacted a 77-year-old woman on Facebook in 2023 using the name Oliver Wilson, presenting himself as an American widower living in Norway. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## Repeated requests to keep an online relationship going During an online relationship lasting about a year and a half, the invented persona said he needed gift cards to maintain internet access and continue communicating. The woman sent approximately 30 cards worth $500 each. The release does not identify the card brands or explain how their value was redeemed. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The gift-card requests were one part of a larger sequence. Prosecutors said the same victim later sent eight checks totalling more than $162,000\. Her bank stopped another $158,000 in checks after detecting fraud. Those payment amounts are separate from the reported gift-card loss. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Your free reader account ## Continue reading for free. Create your account or sign in to get unlimited access. Continue with LinkedIn Continue with Google Continue with Facebook No payment required. Newsletter signup is optional. [Already registered? Sign in](https://giftcard.news/login/?returnTo=%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F) ## In this article ### Organizations * [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://giftcard.news/organization/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) * [IRS Criminal Investigation](https://giftcard.news/organization/irs-criminal-investigation/) * [U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York](https://giftcard.news/organization/u-s-attorney-s-office-for-the-western-district-of-new-york/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] October 8 sentencing announcement](https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/georgia-man-going-prison-scamming-victims-out-tens-thousands-dollars?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Odiboh+sentenced+in+romance+fraud+that+took+about+%2415%2C000+in+gift+cards&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Odiboh+sentenced+in+romance+fraud+that+took+about+%2415%2C000+in+gift+cards+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) News ### [giftee Group estimates JPY 550 million loss after unauthorized e-gift issuance](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/giftee-unauthorized-egift-issuance-estimated-loss-2026/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 26, 2026 3 min [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) News ### [San Francisco settlement creates $1.525 million Vanilla gift-card fund](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/san-francisco-vanilla-gift-card-restitution-fund/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 23, 2026 4 min [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) News ### [Valuedesign reports card-data leak as MOS resets PINs](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/valuedesign-value-card-data-leak-mos-card-2026/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 23, 2026 4 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/#person","name":"Daniel Brooks","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/","description":"Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Daniel Brooks editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Daniel Brooks, a Gift Card News editorial pen name","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp","width":1920,"height":1440,"caption":"The gift-card payments reported for one victim in the Odiboh case. Prosecutors described the number of cards and gift-card total as approximate; other victims and payment methods are not included in this figure.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Chart showing approximately thirty five-hundred-dollar gift cards, representing about fifteen thousand dollars paid by one victim in the Odiboh fraud case","creditText":"Gift Card News, based on U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York","isBasedOn":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/georgia-man-going-prison-scamming-victims-out-tens-thousands-dollars"},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/","name":"Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards: figure data","description":"Tabular data for the figures accompanying \"Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards\". Sources, units and limitations are documented with each figure.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#article"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#article-figure-1-dataset"}],"distribution":{"@type":"DataDownload","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/download.csv?article=%2Ffraud-security%2Fodiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards%2F","encodingFormat":"text/csv","isAccessibleForFree":false}},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#article-figure-1-dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#article-figure-1","name":"One victim: approximate gift-card value and minimum cheque value","description":"Tabular values displayed in the figure \"One victim: approximate gift-card value and minimum cheque value\" and its accompanying data table.\n\nThe DOJ sentencing account describes both channels for the same victim. The cheque bar shows a reported threshold, not an exact total.\n\nApproximate and lower-bound amounts cannot establish exact channel shares. Blocked cheques, other victims and ordered restitution are not included; no recovery is implied.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#dataset"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"variableMeasured":[{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"Reported value","unitText":"USD"}],"isBasedOn":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"US Attorney, October 8 sentencing announcement","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/georgia-man-going-prison-scamming-victims-out-tens-thousands-dollars"}]},{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#article","url":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/","headline":"Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards","description":"A federal judge imposed 33 months in prison and $196,500 in restitution. Prosecutors described repeated $500 gift-card requests made under a false online identity.","datePublished":"2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-18T14:32:31.489Z","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".reader-restricted"},{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#dataset"}],"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp","width":1920,"height":1440,"caption":"The gift-card payments reported for one victim in the Odiboh case. Prosecutors described the number of cards and gift-card total as approximate; other victims and payment methods are not included in this figure.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Chart showing approximately thirty five-hundred-dollar gift cards, representing about fifteen thousand dollars paid by one victim in the Odiboh fraud case","creditText":"Gift Card News, based on U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York","isBasedOn":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/georgia-man-going-prison-scamming-victims-out-tens-thousands-dollars"}],"articleSection":"Fraud & Security","keywords":["Federal Bureau of Investigation","IRS Criminal Investigation","U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York"],"mentions":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/organization/federal-bureau-of-investigation/#entity","name":"Federal Bureau of Investigation","url":"https://giftcard.news/organization/federal-bureau-of-investigation/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/organization/irs-criminal-investigation/#entity","name":"IRS Criminal Investigation","url":"https://giftcard.news/organization/irs-criminal-investigation/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/organization/u-s-attorney-s-office-for-the-western-district-of-new-york/#entity","name":"U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York","url":"https://giftcard.news/organization/u-s-attorney-s-office-for-the-western-district-of-new-york/"}],"wordCount":397,"citation":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S01] October 8 sentencing announcement","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/georgia-man-going-prison-scamming-victims-out-tens-thousands-dollars","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York"}}],"author":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/#person"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#webpage","url":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/","name":"Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards","description":"A federal judge imposed 33 months in prison and $196,500 in restitution. Prosecutors described repeated $500 gift-card requests made under a false online identity.","datePublished":"2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-18T14:32:31.489Z","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#article"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#breadcrumbs"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-took-15-000-gift-cards-chart-showing-approximately-2.webp#image"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://giftcard.news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fraud & Security","item":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Odiboh sentenced in romance fraud that took about $15,000 in gift cards","item":"https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/odiboh-sentenced-romance-fraud-15000-gift-cards/"}]}]} ```