Two fraudsters have been apprehended by men of the Nigeria Police Force for stealing over N400 million using Moniepoint profiles.
A statement on Thursday by Force Spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the suspects identified as Saidu Adam Usman and Yusuf Umar created and distributed compromised Moniepoint financial accounts which they used to facilitate fraudulent transactions amounting to over N400 million.
“The suspects created Moniepoint Microfinance Bank profiles using pre-registered SIM cards and email addresses and then distributed to local accomplices across different states for KYC verification, fraudulently obtaining Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and KYC details from individuals.
“Upon completion of the KYC process, the suspects would change the passwords to secure them for their unknown foreign contractor.”
Adam and Umar are among 82 suspects arrested in January for various financial and cyber-related crimes including internet fraud, romance scams, identity theft, cryptocurrency fraud, transnational fraud, and many other cyber offenses by the
Adejobi added that through its National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC), Police also successfully apprehended 32 suspects nationwide in a significant crackdown on cyber-related crimes.
The development comes few weeks after a hacker, Sunday Ozimede, invaded the vault of Moniepoint and defrauded the lender of a sum of N1,190, 728, 076 billion.
The hacker who has been arrested by the operatives of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), was arraigned before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on charges bordering on conspiracy, obtaining the sum of N945, 728, 076 million by false pretence.
The 43 years old alleged hacker, was also accused of causing financial loss to Moniepoint Microfinance Bank to the tune of N145 million, by planting a bug in the bank’s data system.
The PSFU’s prosecutor, Barrister Justine Enang, on the arraignment of the defendant, told the court that Ozimede and others said to be at large, committed the alleged offences sometimes in May, 2024.
Specifically, the prosecutor told the court the the defendant Sunday Ozimede, fraudulently diverted the mentioned sum from various Moniepoint Microfinance Bank’s customers deposited funds through numerous transactions to other banks.
