Ways to hack into Nigerian banks-Suspect

Afam Nriezedi has a resigned look about him. Looking emaciated in his oversized akara cloth, Nriezedi gingerly shuffled towards the journalist. He attempts to smile, but it appears more like a grimace of self-disgust. He was arrested for kidnapping, but the discussion about his life that he engaged the journalist with, was his life as a bank account hacker. Staring into a past only he can see, he mumbled: “There’s no bank in Nigeria we’d not hacked into.” Below is excerpts of his story.

When did you start this bank hacking job?

Hum. That must have been in 2013. I got into the job through my friend called Seyi Lewis. He is presently in London. Seyi is my childhood friend. We grew together. We attended the same primary and secondary schools. He was like my best friend. We lost contact, but bumped into each other in 2013.

When you met him, what did he tell you he did for a living?

He said he was a businessman. Back then I used to supply people shoes. He then put me through on how to do the bank business.

How did he put you through?

I saw him with his car. It was a Toyota Camry 2.2. When I asked what sort of business he was into, he said account hacking. He said that was the latest business in town now. I told him that I wouldn’t mind joining. He said I should check him the following day. I went to meet him the next day.

Where did you go to meet him?

 I went to meet him at his Surulere home.  He lived at Aguda, Adetola Street. He rented a two-bedroom flat. We sat down and discussed about the bank hacking. After that discussion, I started resuming at his home every day. It was in his home that I got to know much about the business.

How long did you learn the job before you started operating with them?

I learnt the trade for six months before I was allowed to begin operating with them.

Ha! Is the job so difficult to learn or are you a dunce?

No! The truth is that I used to follow them to banks. I was like understudying them. Whenever they succeeded, they’ll find me ‘something.’

When you said, ‘them,’ who are they and how many are they in the syndicate?

There are five of them aside from me. Seyi told them that I was his childhood friend; that they should assist me by putting me through on the job.

Was Seyi’s home office for everyone?

Yes! The location was Surulere. It’s good and so many of them live around that axis.

Tell me the bank you first ever stole from?

It was Union bank. It is the Oba Akran branch in Ikeja. It was just small money I collected. The money was not even up to N200.000. I think it was just ninety something thousand into two different places. My second attempt was UBA.

How do you people do the business? I mean hacking into accounts?

It has to do with team work! Once the job comes, you have to call your contacts. These contacts will start assisting you in searching for a bank worker, working in the bank you want to penetrate.

I don’t understand. Let’s assume I’m the victim of the account. What will happen? What will you do?

This is how it works; if somebody brings your cheque, I’ll call any of our contacts. I’ll say I have a cheque for this or that bank. I’ll ask if they have somebody in that bank. Let’s say the cheque is that of Firstbank or UBA, they’ll begin to make calls, to get an insider in the bank. To get such an insider is not by one-person organisation. Once someone locates a contact, I’ll text the account number on the cheque to the contact, who will send it to the bank worker. The bank worker is the insider.

Is it only customers’ accounts you people hack into?

Yes and also we do yahoo yahoo?

Are you saying you people are into different kinds of hacking?

Yes!

Tell me the different types of hacking.

Hacking has to do with system. Maybe by login. You can login and gets somebody account’s number. It could be a foreign account. You can login into an account in London. You can get information and enter into a banking system. You can’t do it alone. You need somebody outside the country. Once you hack into the account, the person overseas will tell you how to login into the account. It is that person who will help you to login and make the transfer.

This means you guys are into international hacking too?

Yes!

How do you guys do Nigeria hacking? I want to know in case I want to start that sort of business?

It’s the cheque I just told you about.

How will you get the victim’s cheque?

It’s people that used to bring them. Most times the cheques are from houseboys, housemaids and drivers. It is mostly from people who work in the victim’s home.

Is it a signed cheque?

No! Just the bank’s cheque leaf. The account on the cheque will give us the information we need. That simple account number will give you the victim’s name, home address, work and other details. It will also tell us the balance in the account.

So you have to look for someone working in the bank to access the account number and get this information?

Yes!

Before you joined the syndicate, how many banks had Seyi and others penetrated?

Every bank! UBA, Firstbank, Ecobank, Diamond bank, GTB, Fidelity bank, Access bank…

Are you saying all the banks?

Yes, all the banks!

Does that mean you people have insiders in all the banks?

Yes!

Do you guys pay them?

Of course! It’s based on bargaining power. The insider in the bank will not give you information without collecting his own cut. They mostly used to collect 10 percent on every deal.

Once a driver or house help brings the cheque leaf, what would be the next move?

Like I told you before, we’ll search for an insider. The information he or she brings will include the signature of the victim. We’ll take the signature to Mushin. It’s there that they’ll forge the signature, fill the cheque and sign everything.

So you guys don’t move the money through e-banking, but cash the money upfront?

Yes! We go to banks, tender the cheque and get paid by the cashier. It’s usually a third party withdrawal. But whatever identity we presented at the bank, it’s usually a fake.

When you get to the cashier, won’t he or she call the account owner before payment?

It depends on the mandate of the account owner. It depends on the instruction the owner left.

If the instruction is that the bank must call owner before payment, what happens then?

It’s simple. We’ll step on the owner’s phone line

What is stepping on phone line?

Another of our partner will engage the owner’s phone line. No matter how long the cashier called, the line would be ringing engage. Usually, when the bank tried repeatedly to call owner, if the line didn’t go through, the bank will pay.

Is it the insider that will pay the person who went to cash the money?

Ha! No way! As a rule, we don’t go to insider’s branch. Our insider may be in Ikeja, but we’ll go to Victoria Island to cash the money.

How much has your group made since you joined?

Not much…maybe N200, 000, maybe less…

Come on! Seyi has been doing it for years.

Yes, but it’s a syndicate. Once we hit, we have to share it round. This is why someone can get only N200, 000.

Is it possible that Seyi is still doing bank hacking overseas?

Yes!

What can you suggest I do to safeguard my money and account?

My only advice is that owners of accounts should be wary and careful of their domestic servants. They should be careful of people around them. Don’t ever leave your cheque book in the car and take the car to a Car Wash.

People that used to bring these cheque books, how do they know your syndicate and locate you guys?

There are several men who used to go and bring girls to Lagos for housemaid. The girls are not really housemaids. The men brought them to monitor the home. These girls and boys are the ones who will bring the cheque as directed. They appeared to be working for their madam or boss, but they’re working for the people who brought them from the villages and planted them in those home.

How can you penetrate Western Union?

The job is different. Western Union can only be penetrated through chatting up of victims through internet.

Are you saying you guys are also into yahoo yahoo?

Some of us do. Yahoo yahoo is different from fraud.

What’s the difference?

Thank you. Yahoo yahoo is that you can be browsing the net and present yourself or picture as a woman. The person you would be chatting with will be a man. Although you’re in Nigeria, you’ll tell him that you’re in Switzerland. At a point, he’ll want to invite you to his country or you’ll tell him you want to come over. You’ll tell him to send money for airfare. He can send 3000 dollars. Once you’ve collected the money, you cook up a story why you couldn’t make the journey. But the truth is that Western Union is not easy to collect, especially if the person is bearing a Nigerian native name.

It’s easier to collect and steal money belonging to someone bearing English names.

What is fraud?

Fraud is anything that has to do with cheques. It also involvement financial documents

Has any cheque owner ever raised the alarm about his money or cheque book?

Yes! There’s a way you’ll behave and the bank staff will become suspicious and arrest you. Banks used to detect.

Wow! Really?

They can detain you until the account owner arrives.

Has it ever happened to a member?

Yes! It happened to me.

When?

2005. I went to cash a cheque and I was arrested at the bank. The cheque was brought to us by a Cross River guy. He was a houseboy. I wanted to go and cash it, I didn’t know that the owner had already called the bank and declared his cheque missing.

Did the police pick your members after your arrest?

No! They picked the houseboy, but I refused to mention names of members of our syndicate.

What about your second arrest?

It was sheer coincidence. The account owner and I ran into each other in the banking hall. It was surprising that he chose that same day and that same branch. I was the about to collect the money when a cashier told him that someone was already cashing from his account. They thought he sent me.

Why are you involved in crime?

It is devil work. If I’m allowed to go, I’ll never go back to crime again. I should have listened to my dad before he died. He told me never to look at other people’s money. I know I’ve disappointed him.  The truth is that crime doesn’t pay!

What can banks do to safeguard account owners’ money? After all, there are many syndicates like yours out there.

Yes there are! I don’t know what they can do. But let the banks be cautious.