- Hackers reportedly broke into a commercial bank’s database and siphoned millions of naira from customers’ accounts
- The cyber-attack allegedly happened between 1am and 3am on Tuesday, August 14
- A senior staff of the bank, however, assured all the affected customers not to panic as their money will be retrieved
There was pandemonium on Tuesday, August 14, at two branches of a commercial bank in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, when many customers reportedly besieged the bank over withdrawals running into millions of naira made from their accounts at midnight.
As early as 8am, many customers of the bank have crowded the two branches of the bank located along Bank Road in Umuahia, with lamentations over debit alerts, amounting to millions of naira which they received between 1am and 3am, Vanguard reports.
The customers stated that the unusual withdrawal occurred very early in the morning of Tuesday, August 14, while they were asleep. They expressed shock that they woke up to see that the money in their accounts has been withdrawn.
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A senior staff of one of the affected branches who spoke on anonymity blamed the incident on “international hackers.”
Nnenna Ukachi could not control her tears as she stated that she came all the way from Bende local government area of the state to withdraw the sum of N250,000 to complete payment to transfer a sick daughter to the Universty of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu, only to find that her account has been emptied.
The woman lamented that the money was sent by a good Nigerian who read about the plight of her only child and decided to help.
She said: “My life is finished, what will I do? That money is my only hope from God and now, the bank is telling me a story I can’t understand. What should I do?”.
Onwuchekwa Chinatu, an Umuahia-based legal practitioner told Vanguard that he raced all the way from Ikwuano this morning when he noticed the strange withdrawal alerts that occurred in his account.
He said that thousands of naira meant for workers salary deposited in the bank have been withdrawn and the entire account emptied.
Another customer of the bank and a civil servant said that the money in his account was a loan he collected from the bank where his salary is domiciled.
Another senior staff of the bank confirmed the incident as a handiwork of international hackers. He confirmed that the incident had been reported in two of their branches in Umuahia and blamed it on the activities of criminal international hackers who infiltrated into the bank systems.
He assured the customers that the monies were not lost as it remained in what he called “Lean Account,” meaning that the funds are still in the bank and the affected accounts have been blocked.
He said: “We have contacted our headquarters and we assure customers not to panic as their money is not lost.”
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NAIJ.com previously reported that a 28-year-old suspect, identified as James Nwagalezi, was on Thursday, June 7, arraigned before a Lagos magistrate court for reportedly conspiring with Okoli Nmesoma, who was facing trial, in hacking into the app of a bank and stealing N207 million.
The police filed a four-count charge against Nwagalezi revolving around felony, unlawfully hacking into bank account and theft.
Inspector Jimoh Joseph, the police prosecutor, told the court that the defendant and others still at large carried out the crime on Friday, April 27 at Igboelerin, Okokomaiko, Ojo, Lagos.
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Source: Naija.ng