Fraudsters withdraw N523m from bank customer’s account in Lagos

Some fraudsters whose identities were yet-to-be disclosed, have hacked a bank customer’s account.

In the course of a three-day cyber attack, the fraudsters were said to have fraudulently transferred N523,337,100 from the account to 18 different other accounts in the same bank.

Disclosing this development In a statement, Spokesperson for the Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos State, SP Eyitayo Johnson said after gaining access into the customer’s bank account, the suspects subsequently transferred the money into 225 other bank accounts domiciled in 22 other financial institutions.

While noting that two suspects have so far been arrested in connection to the crime, Johnson revealed that the coordinated cyber-attack was carried out on Saturday, April 23, till the early hours of Monday April 25, 2022, before business opened.

“The legal section of the Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi-Lagos, headed by CSP E. A. Jackson, has successfully obtained an order of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, for the preservation/forfeiture/attachment of a net sum of N523,337,100 fraudulently transferred by Internet fraudsters who hacked a customer’s account domiciled in one of the old-generation banks and posted the funds into 18 different accounts in the same bank before transmitting same to 225 other accounts in 22 banks/financial institutions.

“In the course of the investigation, the sum of N160,287,071.47 was recovered from different banks; with two suspects arrested, while operatives are following other leads in order to apprehend the remaining members of the syndicate,” the statement read.

Johnson added that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.