Police arrest two for hacking into over 1000 bank accounts in Lagos

Two men who specialise in hacking into bank customers’ accounts have been arrested by the zone 2 command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which consists of Lagos and Ogun.

Hauwa Idris-Adamu, the command’s spokesperson, confirmed the arrest of the two suspects in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to her, the force worked on a petition from United Bank for Africa (UBA) in May.

She disclosed that the suspects were traced and arrested at Ijebu Ode, Ogun state.

“On the 8th of May 2023, a petition was submitted by United Bank for Africa (UBA) to the AIG that there are some syndicates that specialise in internet fraud of various banks in Nigeria, most especially United Bank for Africa (UBA).

“They hack into customers’ accounts and move their money.

“Based on the petition, the AIG raised a team of detectives from the zonal monitoring unit, which swung into action with the aid of modern technology.

“The two suspects were tracked down at their hideout at Ijebu Ode, Ogun state.

“They confessed that they had many syndicates all over Nigeria and used software to hack into customers’ accounts and move their money undetected from any bank.

“The modus operandi of these fraudsters is to have a customer’s BVN-linked phone number for easy money transfer.

“Consequently, over 1,000 customers’ accounts have been hacked, and the customers defrauded across the country.”

Idris-Adamu added that further investigation into the incident revealed that members of the syndicates were from different parts of the country.

Also, she said efforts were being intensified to arrest all those connected with the crime.