How hacker scoops N5m from victim’s Fidelity bank account

Juliana Francis

 The Special Fraud Unit (SFU), has arrested a man who hacked into a victim’s email and later used the information to steal N5 million from the victim’s Fidelity bank account.

Fidelity bank management was alarmed after they discovered that instruction from the owner of the account to transfer N5million was not really from the victim.

The hunt for the hacker cum fraudster, started after Fidelity bank wrote petition to SFU.

The suspect, Emmanuel Ayodele Shonubi, 36, was arrested after he went to the bank where the money was transferred to and attempted to cash it.  

It was gathered that a petition from Fidelity Bank Plc dated November 11, 2013 to SFU, alleged that on November 5, 2013, a customer of the bank sent an e-mail to his account officer to transfer the sum of N10million from his personal account number 5270001730 to Standard Chartered Bank Limited and that he will do another transfer later but did not mention the amount. 

The petition further stated that, that same day, another e-mail came from the same customer to transfer N5million to Efad Venture account number 0228359203 domiciled at Wema Bank Plc and this was also affected based on their earlier discussion.

On Monday, November 11, 2013 it was discovered that the second instruction did not come from the bank customer but by some fraudsters who hacked into his e-mail.

Internal investigation conducted by the bank revealed that N2million had already been transferred from Efad Ventures account to Access Bank Plc. 

Access Bank was also contacted to flag the receiving account and monitor whoever may come to withdraw from it and the suspect finally surfaced to withdraw and was arrested.

Shonubi is a native of Shagamu in Ogun State and a Diploma holder in French Language from Ivory Coast. 

He is the owner of Efad Ventures Limited and he is into Voucher/DSTV Payment by Paga as well as a car dealer.

He confessed to the crime but claimed that he thought the money came from a source, one Mr. Yomi in U.K. whom he was expecting to send N3million to him, to buy car.

 Even after verifying that the N5million was not from the source, he still went ahead to transfer N2million to the second suspect.  , Ahmed Oladimeji Modupeola, 32.

According to him, he had spent N340, 000.00, leaving a balance of N2, 600.00 in his account.

Modupeola is from Gbongan, Osun State and an OND holder from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta. 

He operates an account with Access Bank account number 0031986034 and the sum of N2million was paid into his account by the principal suspect to purchase a Honda Car for him in Cotonou. 

He had withdrawn the sum of N860, 000.00 from the N2million paid into his account. Investigation is on-going.  Suspects will be charged to court soonest.