Heartbreaking: Pensioner Takes Ill After Losing All Life Savings to Bank Fraudsters

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Mrs. Comfort Ashaye, a pensioner, has taken ill after losing all her life savings in Diamond Bank, Ikosi branch, Lagos to suspected fraudsters who emptied the account.

The account, which had N585,000 was said to have been left with only N2.07 by the fraudsters.

According to The Punch, it was revealed that attempts by the victim to seek audience with the branch manager of the bank on CMD Road, Ketu Ikosi, was abortive, just as she was not allowed to make a formal complaint.

 

An activist, Sola Salako, who spoke with the victim, said Ashaye contacted a journalist whose efforts to get to the roots of the case was also frustrated by the branch manager.

 

She said, “According to Mama, she went to her branch opposite Motorways Plaza Toll Gate area and the branch manager shooed her away without letting her to make a formal complaint.

“She reported to a radio journalist who tried to investigate, but the same branch manager threatened to lock him up. She called security guards to harass him. As we speak, Mama Ashaye cannot explain what happened to her money.”

 

Efforts to speak with Ashaye by our correspondent proved abortive as Salako said she was ill and might not be able to talk about her ordeal.

 

Salako said she met the victim on a radio programme where she was lamenting her condition after the incident happened in March 2017.

 

The spokesperson for Diamond Bank, Mike Omeife, said the bank had investigated the case and discovered that the victim divulged the details of her account to a fraudulent person.

 

He said, “We have investigated the case and found that the woman compromised her account details by divulging her four-digit PIN to another person who sent her a text message requesting that she revalidates her BVN. It was from there they got access to her account.

“Customers do receive calls from some fraudsters who pose as agents of the bank. But according to the CBN rule, you are not supposed to divulge the details of your account details to anybody, not even your child. No bank will, via email or voice call, ask for your account details – your PIN, account number, or any other information. This is also reflected in the documents we give out when people come to open accounts.

“However, because Diamond Bank is passionate about the wellbeing of its customers, we have reached out to the woman and we are trying to resolve the issue. It is painful that a woman that has worked for such a long time will lose her pension to somebody elsewhere.

“The account that was used to siphon the account has been traced, and we are working on it. But this has nothing to do with the bank. The problem was with the woman, who was, sorry to say, negligent.”

 

Omeife urged vigilance among customers, saying they should never release their mobile bank application to people who could hack into them for fraudulent purpose.