EFCC arrests three for N7m SIM swap fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Makurdi zonal office, has arrested three suspects for conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N7,107,540. According to a statement by the spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren on Wednesday, the suspects are: Adewuyi A. Adebayo, 31; Osikoya K. Gboyega, 44 and Akintunde Ogunrinde, […]

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Makurdi zonal office, has arrested three suspects for conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N7,107,540.

According to a statement by the spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren on Wednesday, the suspects are: Adewuyi A. Adebayo, 31; Osikoya K. Gboyega, 44 and Akintunde Ogunrinde, 47. They were arrested on September 9, 2019  following intelligence about their activities.

He said they were arrested at different locations in Lagos State and transferred to Makurdi, Benue State.

According to him, a petitioner alleged that on 18th of February, 2018, he noticed his MTN line had stopped working as no calls or messages came to his phone and the phone displayed a message saying, ‘invalid SIM card’.

“He went to the MTN office to lodge a complaint but was told to apply for a welcome back SIM that was not successful as someone else had swapped his SIM card in Abia State,” Uwujaren said.

“He immediately contacted his account officer at FCMB to inform them of the development and to change his alert phone number to another line only to discover that transactions had occurred on his account without his consent.

“The threshold limit for online transfers on his account had also been increased above five hundred thousand Naira and the sum of N7,107,540 removed from his account.

“Further investigation revealed that the suspects masterminded the alleged fraud,” he added.

He said the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded.