By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) says Nigerians fall victims of electronic fraud because they expose themselves to the fraudsters by releasing their sensitive information to them.
The Commission’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Alhaji Umar Alkassim,stated this in an interview with journalists during a sensitization campaign tagged: “Shine Your Eyes – No Fall Mugu,” which was held at the Multipurpose Indoor Sports Hall, Bauchi,
Alhaji Alkassim, who was represented by the Head of Consumer Policy Development and Monitoring of the Consumer Affairs Department of the Commission, Banji Ojo, said the campaign was part of the NCC’s consumer-centric initiative which is centered on electronic fraud to protect them from fraudsters.
He therefore called on Nigerians to always guard their vital banking information.
“We are here to sensitize the people so that they will be conscious and protect themselves and have adequate information that they need to always do their online businesses.
“The electronic frauds that we have which we call ‘e-fraud’ are so numerous but the major ones that everybody see are the ones that have to do with fake alerts that the marketers will receive, the issue of deduction of your money from your bank accounts even though you don’t know how they had access to your bank accounts.
“There is the issue of receiving text messages informing you that you have won a lottery of N80,000 whereas you never played any lottery; they’ll send you a link and the moment you click on it, you’re already in trouble because some of your information would be passed on to them.
“There is also the issue of going to the POS and the POS man will deceive you to release your PIN and password and then, they start taking your money. Of course, we know that the issues of kidnappers are there and there are so many others. So generally, we are looking at e-fraud to make sure that we educate people; and to educate people, the major thing that you must know is that if you do not expose yourself, there is no way criminals will enter into you.
“The exposure could be that you release your PIN to your friend, the POS agent, maybe the security man in the bank that you will ask to help you withdraw some money because you don’t know how to operate the ATM. When he asks for your PIN and you give him, he’ll cram it and he knows what to do with it,” he stated.
He warned Nigerians against releasing some of the sensitive information written on their ATM cards, saying that these are the major reasons why people get defrauded of their money electronically.
According to him: “In the ATM card that we carry along, there are about five things that you must not release to anyone: the first is the name written on the card, that name on the card, please, don’t release it to anybody. Number two, there is a 16-digit number on the front of your card, don’t let anybody have access to it.
“Number three, there is a three-digit number behind the card, don’t release it to anybody. Number four, there is a validity date on your card, that validity date, as you see it, don’t release it, because when you want to do a transaction, that validity date will be asked, that three digit would be asked, the name and 16-digit would be asked. Finally, your PIN, that PIN, don’t release it; these are the things you must not release to anybody.”
Speaking earlier in his address, he said many people are ignorant of how losing their phones to fraudsters can lead to frauds of their bank accounts.
Alkassim said: ““These fraudsters do this by stealing victims’ identities, names, addresses, bank information, which they use in gaining access to their bank accounts.
“They also use the stolen identities to defraud other people and even apply for loans, leaving the victim with debts. The telecom industry evolves, there is a growing concern over the rising trend of fraud on telecom electronic fraud.”
He said that the Commission would continue to collaborate with critical stakeholders such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), among others in tackling Internet frauds.
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