Customer’s N900,000 Disappears While Activating GTB Mobile Application

Customer’s N900,000 Disappears While Activating GTB Mobile Application

Oluyemisi Adebayo, a Canada-based Nigerian, has recounted how N900,000 was fraudulently taken from Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account on April 5.

Adebayo told FIJ that the money left her account while attempting to set up PIN option of GTB mobile application.

“I collected my GTB debit card last year and I was having issues with it, so I reached out to my account officer, Yemi Oluwole, who was attending to me via WhatsApp. It was resolved immediately. He told me I could make transactions faster and easier through GTB Mobile application where there will be a choice of using token or PIN for transaction,” she told FIJ.

Adebayo said she continued using the GTB Mobile application for transactions with her token and decided to switch to a PIN option instead as earlier informed by the account officer.

“He had sent me guidelines on how to set it up. This was my first time of ever doing anything like this. While going through the process, I was asked to input my pin, which I did,” she said.

Adebayo stated that after entering the PIN, she received a notice that she would receive an email with which she would proceed with the configuration.

“I checked my email and I saw the message supposedly from GT Bank. The subject of the email was password change alert. There were two links with a command attached to each. It said I should click the first link if I was not the one who initiated the change or click the second link if I was the one,” she said.

Adebayo said she clicked on the second link. “It took me to a seemingly GTB platform. It asked for my token, my security question, and the last 6 digits on my card. But when I input the last six digits, it told me it was a wrong number.”

She said at that point, she was discouraged by the process, she closed the link to the commercial banking website, choosing to continue to use her token for transactions.

“Exactly three hours later, I noticed N900,000 debit from the account, and my heart raced in shock and worry,” she said