BVN: Scammers Go On The Rampage With Fake Text Messages

As Deposit Money Banks in the country continue to lobby the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to prevail on the Federal Government to back down on the plan to seize monies in the bank accounts of customers without the Bank Verification Number, scammers have capitalised on the situation to fleece unsuspecting bank customers.

Investigations show that bank names are being cloned to appear as GSM numbers, through which the scammers send text messages to customers.The text messages usually come through the same phone numbers with which customers receive alerts on their accounts when sent by their banks.

One of such messages sent to our correspondent Monday morning reads: “Dear customer, as regard to cashless policy, your account, ATM has been locked due to change in date of birth. To activate, call customer care 08118111105 to rectify.”

When our correspondent called the phone number — 08118111105 — that accompanied the text message, a man who identified himselfas Femi Johnson and who claimed to work in the headquarters of a first generation bank picked it.

He demanded to know the content of the text message, and when told, asked to know where the caller resides.He hung up on our correspondent when the latter insisted that he should check the account details she maintains with the bank if, truly, Johnson was representing the bank.

It may be recalled that banks maintain that they will never ask for account details from customers, whether through phone calls, email,or text messages.Again, customers who maintain accounts with banks are encouraged to contact the banks directly if they have issues to clarify concerning their money or bank account.