AISHA ABUBAKAR
The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, an innovation of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, CFR, to effectively tackle cybercrime offences, and which led to the reorganization of all cybercrime units of the Force, has recorded salient achievements in less than one month from the commencement of operations under the purview of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), DIG Johnson Babatunde Kokumo.
Amongst the numerous concluded cases by the Centre, is a case of unlawful access to a computer network and manipulation of a point of sale (POS) network to defraud the unsuspecting owner of the total sum of Sixteen Million, One Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Ninety-Five (N16,149,195.00) only by all-male trio of Sanmi Ayodeji, Felix Oluwaseun, and Adeleye Oluwaseun, aged 29, 24, and 32 years respectfully.
The suspects signed up on a POS platform known as Tmoni Technologies Company using their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and those of their friends and relatives without their consent. They proceeded to open valid wallet accounts with Tmoni, manipulated the company network security system, and fraudulently transferred funds to the tune of N16.1m from the Tmoni platform to various online accounts from where they made subsequent withdrawals. The suspects were eventually arrested in Ibadan, Oyo State, by operatives of the NPF National Cybercrime Centre, after an official complaint was lodged by the financial controller of the Tmoni platform.
Upon their arrest, the suspects were found in possession of several mobile phones, POS machines, SIM cards, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Cards, and one Toyota Matrix car with registration no. KUJ 548 CN which they confessed was bought with proceeds of the crime.
The Inspector-General of Police, while calling on users of online banking platforms to be vigilant with regard to their personal information, urged all citizens and residents in the country, as stakeholders in ensuring maximum security, to report all suspicious cyber activities via 09168343711, interpolnigeria@npf.gov.ng or on the NPF Cybercrime Reporting Portal – https://incb.npf.gov.ng/.
The IGP similarly commended the Director, NPF National Cybercrime Centre, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Uche Ifeanyi Henry, for his diligence and dedication which has led to the breakthroughs recorded so far.
According to CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, Force PRO, the suspects will be charged to Court as soon as possible.