BVN: New trick by fraudsters to get customers bank details

By Odunewu Segun

Online fraudsters are taking advantage of the rush by Nigerians to have their accounts linked to the Bank Verification Number, National Daily has gathered.

Investigations by National Daily show that the e-fraudsters ’are cloning banks’ GSM numbers and use same to pose as banks in sending warning text messages to customers.

Just as the sms do come through the same phone numbers with which customers receive alerts on their accounts when sent by their banks, they ask for other critical bank details which they can use to hack into customers’ accounts to move their monies away.

Some of the victims who had approached the banks after falling prey say banks usually disown them and leave them to suffer the loss without any assistance to trace their missing deposits.

One of the popular sms that has been going round since the court order reads unedited: “Dear customer, as regard to cashless policy, your account, ATM has been locked due to change in date of birth. To activate, call customer care 08118111105 to rectify.”

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Meanwhile the consortium of banks affected by the Justice Dimgba Igwe forfeiture order are gearing up to challenge the court ruling ordering the forfeiture of money in accounts without verifiable Bank Verification Number.

Already, an unconfirmed report say banks have approached the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to prevail on the Federal Government to back down on the plan to seize monies in the bank accounts of customers without the BVN.

National Daily gathered that although the banks had started compiling the lists of accounts without the BVN, they were not in a hurry to publish the details of such accounts, especially before the November 16 scheduled for the substantive hearing on the case.

The forfeiture order, which was issued by Justice Dimgba Igwe, while ruling on an ex parte application filed by the Federal Government through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, is not final yet.

The court gave the order on October 17 following an application that was filed on September 28.

Justice Dimgba adjourned until November 16 for the hearing of the substantive application seeking the forfeiture of the sums in the accounts without the BVN.