No fewer than four suspects have been arrested by the Nigerian Police over an alleged generation of fake bank alerts and sending same as evidence of online payment for transactions to defraud their victims.
Mr Frank Mba, the Police Public Relations Officer, disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja.
Mba noted that the suspects were specialists in generating fake alerts for sundry purposes, including payment for commercial sex.
He also called on shop and business owners to be mindful of customers who transact business with them and make payments online.
One of the suspects, who spoke to newsmen, said the fake alerts were being generated and sent to victims, especially sex workers, as evidence of online payment.
“If I have something to do with a lady and she is calling for high amount, I will collect the account details and forward to my team member who screenshots it and send back as alert to the lady
“The transaction is called `breeze’ because if the transfer is made and the alert received Immediately, the money does not last more than 15 minutes in the victim’s account before reversing back.
“Sometimes, I go to club, carry girls on the street and when they charge me high, I don’t bargain with them.
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“After I am through with them, I transfer their money first thing in the morning and make sure they confirm receiving the alert immediately.
“Once the alert is received, I leave them because the transaction reverses back within 15 minutes and once it reversed, you know that it is a fake alert,” he said.
According to the suspect, any transaction that does not reflect the kobo in the beneficiary’s account after addition to the original account is fake.
Mba said that a 54-year-old man had been arrested for fraudulently luring a Filipino lady to Nigeria after developing online social relationship with her.
The FPRO said the suspect met the woman, sometimes in 2017 online, developed a social relationship and by Novembers 2019, lured her to visit him in Nigeria.
According to Mba, upon the arrival of the lady, the suspect took her to his village where he kept her incommunicado for six months.
He said the lady was maltreated and assaulted physically and sexually until she was rescued by Police operatives from Unity Police Station, Enugu, following intelligence report.
Mba said that three suspects had also been arrested for establishing a fake Frank Mba Foundation and opening an account for the foundation to defraud the public at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the suspects also opened Facebook account and other online platforms in the name of the foundation and started soliciting for funds from Nigerians.
The FPRO said that the suspects had projected themselves as humanitarians, who were working with Frank Mba Foundation, to raise funds to support vulnerable Nigerians.
He said that the suspects were arrested by Police online monitoring team, adding that investigation into the case had commenced.
Mba said that a 58-year-old man had also been arrested for impersonating Mrs Abba Kyari, Wife of the Late Chief of Staff to the President.
He said the suspect had reached out to prominent Nigerians, soliciting for donations to enable him organise special prayers for the soul of the late chief of staff
According to Mba, in the course of doing that, some of the prominent Nigerians contacted became suspicious and reached out to the Police.