Ajoke Ayodele, a Lagos State resident, has narrated how N761,900 was stolen from an Ecobank account belonging to Samson Ayodele, her elderly father.
Ajoke told FIJ that the incident happened on April 25, 2023.
“My father is an elderly man who does not even have a mobile banking application or debit card on his Ecobank account,” said Ajoke.
“On that day, which happened to be a Tuesday, N761,900 was stolen from his account. He received debit alerts of N199,990 three times and one debit alert of N160,000 on his phone.
“After this, the remaining balance on the account was used to make a N2,200 MTN airtime purchase by the person who stole the money.”
Ajoke told FIJ that the airtime purchase was made using the number 09130960024. She also said she subsequently lodged a complaint at the Ilupeju branch of Ecobank but its officials would not do anything to help her father find a solution to the issue.
“Interestingly, the fraud occurred at a time when I opened a personal account at the Ilupeju branch of Ecobank,” Ajoke said.
“Immediately the money was stolen from my father’s account, however, I got discouraged from depositing money into the account.
“It’s been 14 months since the sum was stolen from my father’s account and, till we speak, the bank hasn’t done anything to help him recover it.
“The offences he committed were being elderly, banking with Ecobank and keeping money in the account.”
When FIJ checked for the owner of the number 09130960024 on Truecaller, the name ‘Mr. Scammer Hamza’ appeared.
FIJ sent a mail to Ecobank’s customer care desk for comments on Wednesday afternoon, but it had not been responded to at press time.