Babatunde Olofin, managing director, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, on Sunday warned Nigerians against falling victims to fraudsters who request account numbers for end-of-year rewards.

Babatunde Olofin, managing director, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank,

Olofin gave the advice in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, while advising citizens not to share their account details online.

According to him, fraudsters have developed a technique where they send all manners of attractive offers for free gifts and cash, by asking the public to share account details to receive the rewards.

He also explained several other tactics including requests for people to pay certain amounts, while they lose the funds without the promised rewards and sometimes their identities stolen.

He added that some fraud victims end up innocently in jail because their accounts were used for money laundering and other advanced cybercrimes.

Olofin stressed the need for continued public enlightenment to educate Nigerians on cyber security.

He said during the Yuletide, fraudsters usually took advantage of people’s ignorance, hence the need for extra vigilance.

“My biggest advice is for people to stop sharing their account numbers in public. Some people are in prison because they had no idea what someone used their accounts for.

“People don’t love you as much to be giving you giveaways. So, you should know that they are harvesting your details. Your bank account is a private detail,” he said.

He advised that account details should be sent to people via private channels instead of posting them online.

He explained that it was important to verify genuine philanthropists doing actual giveaways before sharing any information for safety.

According to the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Nigerian banks lost N42.6 billion to fraudsters within the second quarter of 2024.

However, Olofin said that Moniepoint MFB had adequate firewalls to protect itself and its customers from all types of fraud because all four founders of the bank were experienced software engineers.

“We’ve built up a transaction monitoring and money laundering team that has set rules internally.

“Fraudsters do a lot of things. They structure funds. They know how internal system works,” he said.

He added that the bank was working closely with organisations like the Nigerian Fraud and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to be ahead of fraudsters.

The managing director said that collaboration with law enforcement and fraud experts was to understand fraud patterns better and then build more sophisticated controls into the banks system.

He said Moniepoint was building infrastructure for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) efficiency, adding that the bank’s loans system captured a wide range of small businesses without bias.

He also said that the bank was working closely with the office of the Vice President Kashim Shettima, to ensure loans and grants got to the mos remote parts of Nigeria.

Speaking on Moniepoint’s recent achievement of unicorn status, he said the feat meant more hard work for customers’ satisfaction and increased profit.

NAN reports that the bank joined the Nigeria unicorn status because its market valuation had surpassed one billion dollars.

(NAN)

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group has concluded plans to kickstart operations with a branch in Saudi Arabia and expand its presence across other African subsidiaries in 2025, according to Oliver Alawuba, group managing director and chief executive officer of the group

Oliver Alawuba, GMD/CEO, UBA group

Alawuba, who stated this during a send-forth dinner held in honour of the bank’s retired non-executive directors in Abuja, revealed that the bank has over 25,000 staff and serves more than 45 million customers across 24 countries.

He said, “The UBA that has over 25,000 staff and serves more than 45 million customers across 24 countries is the legacy you have contributed to. That is the UBA that will continue to thrive for generations.

“Our chairman was in Saudi Arabia recently and announced that UBA will establish its presence there next year. We will also launch additional African subsidiaries, ensuring that the bank grows from strength to strength,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Tony Elumelu, chairman, UBA, praised the retired directors and their families for their dedication and sacrifices.

“At UBA, we are more than just a bank; we are a family. These individuals have been selfless, ultra-dedicated, and instrumental to the success we have achieved in Nigeria, Africa, and globally. We owe a debt of gratitude to their families for the support they provided,” Elumelu said.

Kayode Fashola, one of the retirees, recalled how he joined UBA and expressed his appreciation to Elumelu for trusting him and other directors with critical positions in delivery efficient service.

The Katsina State police command, on Thursday, paraded one Adewumi Gabriel, Head of ATM Operations of Access Bank Daura branch, for conspiring with a colleague to steal the sum of N18 million from a customer’s account.

Adewumi confessed to conspiring with David Mesioye, now at large, using their expertise of the bank’s operations to carry out the theft discovered during an audit.

Spokesperson of Katsina State Police Command, Abubakar Aliyu said, some of the exhibits recovered from Adewumi include the sum of N10.18million from his different bank accounts and a physical cash of N366,900, among other valuables.

In a separate incident, Bishir Abdullahi, a 37-year-old resident of Sokoto State, was arrested at an Old Generation Bank ATM in Katsina with 14 stolen ATM cards in his possession.

According to Sadiq, the suspect was a notorious fraudster who specialised in swapping ATM cards of unsuspecting members of the public at ATM points.

He explained that the suspect was arrested by a police officer on duty at the bank’s branch of Tudun Katsira quarters in the Katsina metropolis, following suspicious activities around the ATM machine.

“Upon instant search, 14 suspected stolen ATM cards of different banks were found in his possession.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had been using the stolen ATM cards to withdraw sums of money from his victims’ accounts.

“The total amount withdrawn by the suspect from the victims’ accounts is N2.705million. The suspect will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.”