Police smash gang using stolen SIMs, BVN to empty bank accounts

Taiwo Jimoh

A 37-year-old alleged serial robber, Raphael Ejuwa, has been arrested for buying stolen phones, Subscriber identification Module (SIM) and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) from an alleged thief.

The Police said that Ejuwa, after buying the items, sold them to some men who specialised in hacking customers’ bank accounts. Also arrested is 23-year-old Onyebuchi Okechukwu.

The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Anti-Cultism Unit, Lagos State Command. Okechukwu was said to have stolen his elder brother’s phones, which he  sold to Ejuwa. Ejuwa then sold them to bank account hackers.

Okechukwu, a truck driver, stole phones of his brother, from where they were being charged and then sold both phones to Ejuwa for N17, 000. A Police source explained how the bank account hackers operated, using people’s SIMs and ATM card.

The source said: “The SIM and ATM cards realignment experts uses a code generated from the stolen phones to get the BVN of a victim. They’ll use the BVN to hack the person’s account and then withdraw his or her money. In some cases, they would remove the serial number on the ATM and the microchip and then insert it into a software. The software shows the details of the owner of the ATM or SIM. Most of these gang members are into internet frauds. People like Ejuwa, who sell SIMs and ATM cards to them are always compensated for bringing such deals.”

Okechuku said that he was a truck driver before he had an accident with the truck. Since he had no truck and was practically jobless, he decided to go and stay with his elder brother. It when he went to live with his elder brother, that Okechukwu stole the man’s phones.

Speaking after his arrest, Okechukwu said: “Immediately I removed the two phones, I went straight to the street to look for a buyer. I saw Ejuwa alias Opobo. I approached and told him that I had two phones for sell. He showed interest. After paying for the phones, we both tried to remove the SIMs but it was difficult. They were both micro SIMs. When we couldn’t remove the SIMs, we promised to meet the following. When we eventually met, he told me he had already sold the two phones. He told me that the buyers promised to return the SIMs after removing them. I left and travelled to my village in Anambra State to see my mother.

“I was in the village when my elder brother called our mother to say that I stole two of his phones from his house. It was my elder brother’s landlady that told him I was the one that stole the phones. She said that she saw me running away. Our mother asked me if I knew anything about the missing phones, I said no. It was after much persuasion that I  confessed that I was the one that stole them.”

He added: “After I told our mother that I stole the phones, she invited youths in our community to beat me up. I was disgraced and dragged to the palace of our Obi. It was at the palace of our Obi that I was ordered to return to Lagos, locate who I sold the phones to, retrieve and return them to my brother. When I eventually got to Lagos, I was arrested because my brother had already reported the matter to the police. The Investigation Police Officer (IPO) and I started to search for Ejuwa in order to retrieve the two phones from him. I got his phone number from someone and we traced him to a hotel at Ajegunle. I had to pretend that I wanted to sell another phone to him before he surfaced. Immediately he stepped out of the hotel, I grabbed him with the help of a friend. We then took him to Ajeromi Police Station in Ajegunle. We were both later transferred to Anti-Cultism Unit. Ejuwa told the police that he sold the two phones to a guy, who had already travelled to Ghana.”

Ejuwa said that when he bought the phones from Okechukwu, he had no fear. He had known Okechukwu for long, he said. 

Ejuwa narrated: “ On November 20, 2019, Okechuwku came to me that he wanted to sell two phones, Itel and Geoni. We both agreed on a price of N17, 000. When he sold the phones to me, he demanded for the SIMs. He said that he wanted to return them to his brother. We tried to remove the SIMs, but we couldn’t. Okechukwu told me that if there was money in the bank account of either of the SIMs, I should return them to him. When I eventually removed the SIMs, I was unable to reach him through the phone number he gave me. When I couldn’t reach Okechukwu, I took the SIMs to those who do SIM and ATM realignments.  When I gave the two SIMs to the them to check if there was money on them, they said it was only one of the SIMs, which had money in the bank account. They said that the money in the account was N45,000. The money was removed from the person’s bank account. I was given N25, 000 as my share, coupled with the two phones I sold. It was after I was arrested that I got to know that the money in the owner’s account was actually N750, 000, not N45, 000 as claimed by the hackers.”

Police said that Okechukwu has been arrested before for a similar offence of buying stolen phones and selling to realignments experts, who then hacked into SIM owner’s bank account and emptied the account.

 Ejuwa said he used to be an automobile mechanic, with specialisation in fixing of  Mercedes Benz, before the life of crime came calling.

His words: “The truth is that  Mercedes Benz V-Boot cars, which are my specialties, went out of fashion. I had nothing to do; no work. I sit at home every day. I was introduced to buying and selling of phones to survive. It was a friend, Patrick that introduced me to it. It was when Police were chasing the Internet fraudsters that the realignments experts all travelled out of Nigeria to London and Ghana to continue with their trades. They travelled in order to avoid Police arrest.”