17/10/2022
By Sapelaofofo
HOW A YOUNG MAN EMPTIED THE ACCOUNT OF A LADY THIS AFTERNOON AT FIRST BANK ATM CASH POINT, BOYO ROAD, SAPELE
DO NOT ALWAYS BLAME THE BANK, THE MISTAKE MIGHT BE FROM YOU
My attention was drawn to a pathetic case this afternoon
According to the story sent to me;
''A lady walked up to First Bank, Boyo Road, ATM Machine with the intention of withdrawing N98, 000 (Ninety Eight Thousand Naira Only) meant for the payment of their over due house rent. When she engaged the ATM machine with her ATM card to make the withdrawal, according to her, the machine retrieved (swallowed) the ATM card. Normally when cases like this prop up, since she is using a First Bank ATM Card on a First Bank ATM Machine, it is expected she make an immediate complaint at the customer care unit so that it can be retrieved immediately.
She did approached the appreciate unit and made her compliments, but as she was making her complaint the husband to the lady called that he received a debit alert of 109,000 which was against their earlier agreement of N98,000 (Ninety Eight Thousand Naira), it was then the lady alerted the bank of the sudden development. The bank eventually brought out the ATM card, but to her greatest surprise the card that was presented to her, though was a First Bank Card, it was different from hers" This was the story line given to me.
Instead of making a Breaking News with one of this captions;
1. FIRST BANK STAFFS/SECURITY BOYO ROAD DEFRAUDS WOMAN OF 109,000
OR
2. FIRST BANK BOYO ROAD WORKERS EMPTIED LADY'S ACCOUNT
Below were the steps I took;
First, I met with the lady in question and did a separate interview, she narrated same story in confirmation with what was sent to me. I asked her one simple question; "Did You Give Your ATM Card To Anyone? She Said No''
So i was left with just one option, since she never gave the card to anyone, then the card must have been stolen by a bank officer or one of those security who have access to the back hall of the ATM machine.
Immediately I approached the bank at about 3:30pm, by then the bank has officially closed. Then i had a little chat with the security men, presented the case, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) categorically stated that I should come with the lady tomorrow morning and the bank would review their cctv footage and only then can we state for a fact what actually transpired.
I then asked a simple question directed to the CSO, I asked; ''Is it possible for any of the bank staffs to sneak into the ATM room and then steal the ATM card, he said never, but that what ever transpired will be revealed on the footage tomorrow morning.
Leaving them I had to do more deeper thinking, as I returned to the lady in question, when i got to where she was, a spirit told me to review the debit alerts which i did, unfortunately, all the debit alert showed 3 different POS machine as shown on the photos attached, the money was not withdrawn from the ATM but from a POS, right then i knew something was wrong, then i looked at the lady and asked; did you not give or called anyone to assist you right on the ATM stand, then she casually flashed back and said, there was a guy behind her who she beaconed on to assist her when she was finding it difficult to carryout the transaction, then I asked the final question; ''Did You Give Him, Your ATM Card?" Guess what? She said YES.
NOW THIS WAS WHAT PLAYED OUT:
The young man behind the lady was having with him a First Bank Cloned ATM card, just when he was able to grasp the lady's ATM pin during the process of assisting her, he switched his cloned card with that of the lady, inserted his cloned card which will eventually be retrieved by the ATM since it is not real, after it was retrieved he told the lady that the ATM machine has swallowed her card, the lady without being cautious immediately dashed into the bank, the young man on the other hand disappeared to three different POS stand and emptied the account.
Note: The money in question was a business money sent to the lady, the husband only wanted to borrow from it to settle their house rent, and repay when he has the money, but unfortunately this happened, they were both confused and helpless as at the time i left them.
Please this should be a lesson to everyone, instead of asking strangers to assist you, please call on security operatives or officials of the bank, it is more safer. Though I am aware that some of this boys moves with charms, but we should not also suspend our senses