manitobor:
On the first of April 2019, I boarded an intra-city vehicle and dropped at my destination unaware that a guy sitting beside me in the bus had stolen my phone from my pocket. The bus I boarded had picked the guy on the way and he sat next to me. I had no inkling at all that he had the intention of picking my pocket though something told me that this guy's way 'no pure' as he was casting uncanny and surreptitious glances towards my direction, with a weird look on his face. Little did I know he was busy with my pocket.

It was several minutes after I had alighted at my destination that I realised that my smartphone was missing from my pocket. I used a friend's phone to dial my number and found out that the criminal had already switched it off. I resigned to fate knowing fully well that my chances of getting back the phone was slim. I however kept dialling my number till evening, it was still switched off. 6 AM in the morning of 2nd April I dialled my number again and it was ringing but wasn't picked up at the other end. After a few more attempts, the rogue switched off the phone again.

I decided to contact MTN that day to block the line, which they did. However, to my chagrin, when I went to the ATM that same morning to make a withdrawal, I found out the my account balance had changed and that the criminals have succeeded in withdrawing some thousands of Naira from my account. I rushed inside the bank immediately and blocked the account.

What I am still dazed about is how it's possible for criminals to withdraw money from someone's bank account just by getting hold of the sim card. Mind you, my phone can only be accessed via a PIN, so the possibility of them making a transfer using my bank's mobile app is ruled out. So how did they do it?

Has anyone ever been victim of such? Please share so others can learn.

Mods, can you please move to front page so others can learn? Thanks.

slowbreeze:
I lost my fone some months back in a similar fashion.Omo na so I stop work immediately & rushed to d nearest MTN office to do d needful.Youd have gone immediately to block ur line once u noticed d fone was missing.Sorry bro.

ehinorlive:
no need to ask how the money was withdraw because is a simple stuff, what the pick pocket did was to buy airtime directly using your sim. you know banks dont require pin to buy airtime and if the dude is smart enough he or she can just buy airtim, create a transfer pin and start wireing.

successsureodd5:
Read below it

manitobor:


Has anyone ever been a victim of such? Please share so others can learn.

Mods, can you please move to the front page so others can learn? Thanks.

fergie001:
These guys have gone international.....

Happened to my dad last year,just got him a new phone. It was stolen less than 2 weeks after he started using the phone, and that day was on a Friday...so we were waiting for Monday to block it. We immediately called empty-hen to block the line which they did. Yet the number continued to ring and a young lady picked feigning ignorance. Behold,she was in AKS, we poured invectives on her,yet she said she was innocent.
To cut a long story short over 80k had gone, before monday, yet that number continued to ring. Even the bank were as confused as we were. Till date,the money enter Voicemail... Once it happens,get to the bank asap...don't even wait an extra second...or best still call their customer care line...

Sorry bro....you are in 9ja...

Bodingo:
There is no way someone can withdraw money from your account by having your phone.

How will the person know your account number and bank you bank with.They can only do that if you have a bank mobile app and automatic pin on it or a phone number verification

KingAzubuike:
Depends on the bank. UBA for example asks for pin when transferring with sim card. Banks like GTB or so don't ask for anything at all. They just authenticate the transaction without any security measure.

IQscanner:
Today is my birthday so free airtime for one lucky person 717461482236188

symbianDON:

don't be too sure bro! even without a mobile app or bank alerts on your phone, even without knowing your PIN your account can be wiped clean! in fact in certain cases, the f.o.ols don't even need your phone sef!

Sicilyjoe:

Is a lie

symbianDON:

don't be too sure bro! even without a mobile app or bank alerts on your phone, even without knowing your PIN your account can be wiped clean! in fact in certain cases, the f.o.ols don't even need your phone sef!

femi4:
Why block sim before bank account. It should be the other way round

MuttleyLaff:
Happy Birthday to you. Your liberality is admirable, however when next you ever let your head down, please, please, please let it be not just to only and alone admire your shoes, but to lift and bring a knocked down on the floor, brother or sister up. You are beautiful inside and outside.

BlackfireX:
How much him take, wet you dey blow all this grammar?

Akpacha:
Sorry abt that. With ur sim, they can dial a code that would produce ur BVN I guess they proceed from there. I have password both on my sim and on my phone. My sim can't be use on another phone without password.

manitobor:

What I am still dazed about is how it's possible for criminals to withdraw money from someone's bank account just by getting hold of the sim card. Mind you, my phone can only be accessed via a PIN, so the possibility of them making a transfer using my bank's mobile app is ruled out. So how did they do it?

Has anyone ever been victim of such? Please share so others can learn.

Mods, can you please move to front page so others can learn? Thanks.

HOW TELEPHONE ROBBERS NOW STEAL MILLIONS FROM BANK CUSTOMERS’ ACCOUNTS
....
Different banks in the country have unique USSDs through which their customers can access mobile banking quickly. The USSD channel is, however, many of the ways exploited by phone robbers to fleece their victims of money in their bank accounts. This is done through electronic transfer of money from the victims’ bank accounts to bank accounts belonging to the robbers or members of their syndicate or purchase of items, including recharge cards, electronics and sundry items from online stores.

To be sure that a victim has money in his account, the robber would first remove the Sim card and insert it in another phone and make a purchase of a recharge card as low as N100. Once the balance on the bank account is received on the phone number indicating there is enough money in the account, the thieves would proceed to make further transfers or purchases and clean out the money left in their victims’ bank accounts.

For example, Awosika’s N558,000 was spent by the robber to purchase recharge cards through 30 different telephone numbers. In the case of Aremu, the robbers bougth N100 and N500 worth of recharge cards in quick succession and went on to transfer a sum of N29,000 to a Skye Bank account owned by a member of the syndicate.

“After I gained access to the phone, I bought recharge cards worth N600 and I was able to know the balance on the GTBank’s account number of the phone’s owner and I immediately transferred N29,000 to my account with Skye Bank.

“I do not need to know the victim’s password on the phone or Personal Identification Number for me to have access to victims’ accounts and transfer money to my account or buy recharge cards. Most victims password their phones not Sim cards. So, once I removed the Sim and put it in my own phone, I would have easy access to the Sim. I do not also need to know the PIN of my victim; all I need is the last digits of the victim’s Bank Verification Number (BVN), which I can easily obtain by dialling *556*0# and it would be revealed on the phone,” said one of the suspects involved in Aremu’s case, Oluwatobi, a graduate of Electrical/Electronics Engineering.

Also, syndicates who specialise in robbing people of their mobile phones and emptying their bank accounts also use computer applications to generate the BVN and bank details of their customerrs working in concert with fraudulent bankers.

This was evident in the case of a six- member gang paraded by the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Imohinmi Edgal, on February 20, 2018 during which the suspects who specialised in stealing phones/Sim cards and using them to hack the owners’ bank accounts disclosed their mode of operation.

The suspects, Nwanze Ifeanyi, 27, Martin Achi, 27, Solomon Dike, 31, Muritala Mohammed alias Swallow, Ali Hassan, 27, and Shamson Mustapha, 25, were paraded at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja,.

They said they were responsible for stealing phones and Sim cards, which they handed over to their gang leader, Swallow. Mohammed said he normally sent short codes to the service providers through the stolen Sim cards to generate the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and the account numbers of the owners.

He said: “Once it is the number registered with the bank, the details will appear on the phone and we would use it to hack into the person’s account. We generate PIN (Personal Identification Number) and do instant transfers from been doing this for over eight months now and I have made money from it.

“I have made over N300,000. It’s not true that we have made over a million. It’s not up to that. I used to give the guys who steal the phones, Sim cards small change. I used to tell them the thing did not click. I paid the motorcyclist (Dike) N3,000 each time he took them out to steal phones.

“But I usually gave 30 percent of the amount transferred to those who provided their account numbers for that purpose. Everyone knew what was going on except Mustapha. He was not part of the deal. He’s just a friend of Hassan.”

Bodingo:

It is a lie, someone must have your bank details to enter into it. Are you saying that Nigerian bank have no security, did you know the implication of that, you are saying that Dangote money in Nigerian bank can be wiped out by criminals.

See any withdraw from your account, the person must have seen your bank details.

KingAzubuike:
Depends on the bank. UBA for example asks for pin when transferring with sim card. Banks like GTB or so don't ask for anything at all. They just authenticate the transaction without any security measure.

manitobor:
On the first of April 2019, I boarded an intra-city vehicle and dropped at my destination unaware that a guy sitting beside me in the bus had stolen my phone from my pocket. The bus I boarded had picked the guy on the way and he sat next to me. I had no inkling at all that he had the intention of picking my pocket though something told me that this guy's way 'no pure' as he was casting uncanny and surreptitious glances towards my direction, with a weird look on his face. Little did I know he was busy with my pocket.

It was several minutes after I had alighted at my destination that I realised that my smartphone was missing from my pocket. I used a friend's phone to dial my number and found out that the criminal had already switched it off. I resigned to fate knowing fully well that my chances of getting back the phone was slim. I however kept dialling my number till evening, it was still switched off. 6 AM in the morning of 2nd April I dialled my number again and it was ringing but wasn't picked up at the other end. After a few more attempts, the rogue switched off the phone again.

I decided to contact MTN that day to block the line, which they did. However, to my chagrin, when I went to the ATM that same morning to make a withdrawal, I found out the my account balance had changed and that the criminals have succeeded in withdrawing some thousands of Naira from my account. I rushed inside the bank immediately and blocked the account.

What I am still dazed about is how it's possible for criminals to withdraw money from someone's bank account just by getting hold of the sim card. Mind you, my phone can only be accessed via a PIN, so the possibility of them making a transfer using my bank's mobile app is ruled out. So how did they do it?

Has anyone ever been victim of such? Please share so others can learn.

Mods, can you please move to front page so others can learn? Thanks.

manitobor:
On the first of April 2019, I boarded an intra-city vehicle and dropped at my destination unaware that a guy sitting beside me in the bus had stolen my phone from my pocket. The bus I boarded had picked the guy on the way and he sat next to me. I had no inkling at all that he had the intention of picking my pocket though something told me that this guy's way 'no pure' as he was casting uncanny and surreptitious glances towards my direction, with a weird look on his face. Little did I know he was busy with my pocket.

It was several minutes after I had alighted at my destination that I realised that my smartphone was missing from my pocket. I used a friend's phone to dial my number and found out that the criminal had already switched it off. I resigned to fate knowing fully well that my chances of getting back the phone was slim. I however kept dialling my number till evening, it was still switched off. 6 AM in the morning of 2nd April I dialled my number again and it was ringing but wasn't picked up at the other end. After a few more attempts, the rogue switched off the phone again.

I decided to contact MTN that day to block the line, which they did. However, to my chagrin, when I went to the ATM that same morning to make a withdrawal, I found out the my account balance had changed and that the criminals have succeeded in withdrawing some thousands of Naira from my account. I rushed inside the bank immediately and blocked the account.

What I am still dazed about is how it's possible for criminals to withdraw money from someone's bank account just by getting hold of the sim card. Mind you, my phone can only be accessed via a PIN, so the possibility of them making a transfer using my bank's mobile app is ruled out. So how did they do it?

Has anyone ever been victim of such? Please share so others can learn.

Mods, can you please move to front page so others can learn? Thanks.

ehinorlive:
no need to ask how the money was withdraw because is a simple stuff, what the pick pocket did was to buy airtime directly using your sim. you know banks dont require pin to buy airtime and if the dude is smart enough he or she can just buy airtim, create a transfer pin and start wireing.