SIM Card Swapping: ‘Beware Of Fraudsters’ New Tricks’

On Sunday, the Oyo State Police Command advised the public to remain alert so as not to be a victim of the new tricks used by scammers to enter bank accounts.

The council came after the arrest of 10 suspects of the police command for the alleged theft and fraudulent exchange of SIM cards.

Speaking at a press conference at Eleyele police headquarters, Ibadan, police commissioner Shina Olukolu, who made a shocking revelation of how the suspects used their new tricks to defraud Nigerians of several million Naira, advised not Respond to unknown people by asking about Personal Data and other information related to bank accounts.

“Do not give information to someone you do not know. They (the fraudsters) will call you to provide some information and, as you offer it step by step, what follows is that your phone will go blank. After a few minutes, you will return, and a few minutes later, you will receive debit alerts by email.

They have exchanged your SIM card. That is precisely what has happened to many who have lost several million nairas to these scammers, “he said.

The suspects, who were handcuffed, included Omotayo Azeez, 29, Olufade Abdulgafar, 33, Adesina Peter, 32, Odugbesan Gbenga, 39, Shiyanbola Harry, 32, Effiog Udofia, 52, Arowosegbe Adewale, 43, Adesanlu Kayode, 32, Onasile Abiola, 25, and Temitope Fatai, 21.

The commissioner, while warning the public to never attend to unknown people requesting details of their personal information, narrated how the police arrested the suspects.

He said: “On March 14, Adeniyi Ige, the Security Manager of Airtel Network Limited, informed the police that his company received customer complaints related to the withdrawal of various amounts of money from its bank accounts, through the fraudulent exchange of SIM cards.

“The complainants included Professor Olapade James, dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Ibadan, who reported that on February 21 he experienced a loss of signal in his line. After this, he said he began receiving notifications of debit alerts from his bank account via email, adding that N180,000 was fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account.

“Sir. Godwin Unigbe reported that on February 22, N3million was fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account. Mr. Benjamin Udo Bassey of Araromi Street, Felele, Ibadan, said that N460,000 was fraudulently removed from his account on February 20 and 21 “.

Olukolu said that after the reports, Airtel Network Ltd conducted an internal investigation through its closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings and tracked the fraudulent exchange of SIM cards to ISON BPO, a call center for service providers network, including Airtel Network, located in Ibadan.

He said: “This led to the arrest of three ISON workers directly involved in the fraudulent act. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of seven other suspects. “