Delta Police Parade e-banking fraud suspects

The Nigeria Police, Warri Area Command, Warri, Delta State, has arrested and paraded two suspects involved in e-banking transfer fraud to the tune of four million naira.

The Area Commander, ACP Hussaini Rabiu, over the weekend, paraded the suspects in Warri.

The two suspects are Mr Edema Rapheal (20), an apprentice, who resides at No. 9, Ogbelaka Street, Benin City and Mr Friday Wuruyai (21), a Federal Government Scholarship 200 level student of Benson Idahosa University, studying Computer Science and resides at No. 24 Abala Street, Warri.

The four million naira, said to have been electronically stolen, belonged to one Mr Chris Ekpekurede, an engineer, who resides at No. 2, Saniyo Street, Off Jakpa Road, Effurun.

Ekpekurede was said to have received a phony text message on June 12, 2013 which read: “Dear customer, your First Bank online security is still not active. Please, log in below to activate your online verification privacy Department 2013 First Bank Plc.”

The unsuspecting Ekpekurede was said to have logged in all his bank details including his ATM pin number. Thereafter, he received an alert from First Bank Nigeria Plc that he had transferred four million naira from his account.

He immediately contacted the bank manager, who tried, in co-operation with other banks, to salvage part of the money.

The investigation revealed that the fraudsters, while using the electronic transfer, transferred the sum of four million naira from Ekpekurede’s First Bank Account to a UBA account operated by one Egbo Patience.

The money was further re-transferred in piecemeal of ₦300,000 each to 13 other accounts with different banks in this order: with UBA (7 accounts); GTB (5 accounts) and Fidelity Bank (1 account).

According to ACP Rabiu, the fraudsters had withdrawn a large chunk of the money before the salvage mission was started, noting that two of the account holders that had been arrested are helping detectives in tracing the other fleeing suspects.

The police boss said that only two million naira was salvaged from the various accounts, while the banks had frozen all the 13 accounts. He added that the suspects will soon appear in court while the trail of others continues.

He assures that the state will enjoy peace, saying he had already alerted all DPOs in his area to mobilise their men to strategic areas to keep a watch on criminals.