Two suspected fraudsters are in custody after stealing more than N500 million from a customer’s bank account through hacking Before moving the same money into 225 other accounts in 22 different banks, the suspects transferred the stolen money to 18 different accounts in the same bank. SP Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi spokesperson Eyitayo Johnson stated that the police have obtained a court order for the forfeiture of the stolen money while investigations are ongoing.

A customer’s account from an old generation bank was hacked by suspected fraudsters, who then fraudulently transferred N523,337,100 (N523.3 million) from the account to 18 different accounts in the same bank. SP The Police Special Fraud Unit’s Ikoyi, Lagos State, spokesperson, Eyitayo Johnson, announced this on September 21 in a statement.

He claimed that over the course of a three-day cyberattack, the suspects transferred money between 18 accounts and 225 other accounts held by 22 different banks and financial institutions. According to information obtained by Legit.ng, the coordinated cyber-attack took place between Saturday, April 23, and the early hours of Monday, April 25, 2022, before businesses opened.

Two suspects have been detained in relation to the crime, according to SP Johnson, and more are being sought.

Police get court order to forfeit stolen N523m

Johnson added that the Police Special Fraud Unit’s legal division had been successful in getting a court order authorizing the preservation, forfeiture, and attachment of the N523 million that had been transferred fraudulently by the fraudsters. Investigations, according to him, showed that N160,287,071.47 had been taken back from several banks. As soon as the investigations are finished, the suspects will be charged in court, the police spokesperson said.

Police commissioner sends message to banks

Anyasinti Nneka, the SFU commissioner of police, commented on the development and advised banks and other financial institutions to tighten their cyber-security controls and routinely check the backgrounds of employees with login privileges to prevent hacker attacks. The police chief also urged the public to look into the causes of any unforeseen inflows into their accounts.

“Where such funds are found to have been wrongly credited, the recipient should cooperate with their banks and make conscious efforts to reverse or re-route the same. Utilizing such funds is a criminal offence,” the police commissioner said.