The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has launched a nationwide manhunt for
a woman believed to be in her 20s, Tofunmi Akinade, who is alleged to be a
serial Automated Teller Machine fraudster and identity thief.
The
EFCC said on its official Facebook page that the suspect recently stole the ATM
card of a woman and stole over N1m from the account.
The
commission said Akinade’s modus operandi was to stand near ATMs under the guise
of helping old or physically-challenged people to withdraw money only for her
to swap their ATM cards and convert them to her own use.
The
anti-graft agency said the suspect “does not work during the official hours of
the week”, adding that she operated late in the night when all bank
transactions had closed and preferably at weekends when her prospective victims
might not be able to alert the banks to their missing ATM cards.
The
anti-graft agency said, “The Ibadan zonal office of the EFCC is on the trail of
a suspected ATM fraudster, who goes by the name Akinade Tofunmi. Her trade in
stock is identity theft. Her duty post is any ATM point and Point of Sales
(POS) machines across the country.
“In
her last operation, within 24 hours, this fraudster who operates with the
identity of her victims succeeded in racking in about N3m.
The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has launched a nationwide manhunt for
a woman believed to be in her 20s, Tofunmi Akinade, who is alleged to be a
serial Automated Teller Machine fraudster and identity thief.
The
EFCC said on its official Facebook page that the suspect recently stole the ATM
card of a woman and stole over N1m from the account.
The
commission said Akinade’s modus operandi was to stand near ATMs under the guise
of helping old or physically-challenged people to withdraw money only for her
to swap their ATM cards and convert them to her own use.
The
anti-graft agency said the suspect “does not work during the official hours of
the week”, adding that she operated late in the night when all bank
transactions had closed and preferably at weekends when her prospective victims
might not be able to alert the banks to their missing ATM cards.
The
anti-graft agency said, “The Ibadan zonal office of the EFCC is on the trail of
a suspected ATM fraudster, who goes by the name Akinade Tofunmi. Her trade in
stock is identity theft. Her duty post is any ATM point and Point of Sales
(POS) machines across the country.
“In
her last operation, within 24 hours, this fraudster who operates with the
identity of her victims succeeded in racking in about N3m.
“On
Friday, June 3, 2016, at about the close of work, a woman, identified simply as
Alhaja and her husband, who was waiting in the car, wanted to use an ATM
somewhere in Ibadan, Oyo State, when Tofunmi noticed that the woman limped.
“Pretending
to be polite and cultured, she offered to assist her with the transaction on
the ATM. Unaware of the intention behind the pious approach, she gave the
fraudster her ATM card and divulged her PIN.
“Smartly,
the fraudster quickly checked the balance in the account which had N1, 749,
026.07. After the intended withdrawal of N20,000, the fraudster swapped the
card and gave Alhaja a fake ATM card. Oblivious of the swap, she left with her
husband.”
The
EFCC said before midnight, the fraudster started withdrawing money from her
victim’s account.
It
alleged that she withdrew N130,000 and having exceeded the daily withdrawal
limit for that day, she waited for a few minutes into the following day which
was a Saturday and withdrew another N150,000.
It
added that in a desperate attempt to empty the balance in the account, the
suspect went to a night club where she met a motorcycle rider, popularly called
okada rider,
whom she approached for help.
The
EFCC added, “She told the okada
rider that she had enough money in her account, but could not access it having
exceeded her daily withdrawal limit. She showed the okada man her balance and pleaded with him
to give her his ATM card, account details and PIN for a quick teller transfer
from her (Alhaja’s) account to the okada
man’s account.
“With
that, she was able to transfer some of Alhaja’s money in the okada man’s account,
thereby stealing the identity of the unsuspecting okada man.”
The
commission said in the early hours of that Saturday, she asked the okada man to take her to
a hotel with an intention to further steal the identity of the hotel for
another movement of the money.
It
added, “At the hotel reception while paying for her accommodation which was
N10,000 for one night, she deliberately credited the hotel’s account with
N101,000 feigning a mistake and demanded a refund of N91,000 balance of
an overpayment. This was also done with Alhaja’s ATM card through the POS
machine at the hotel.
“To
further conceal her identity, she provided fake personal details in the hotel
and gave the hotel the okada
man’s account detail when the hotel management requested an account to deposit
the refund.”
The
EFCC said the suspect left the hotel and fled to Ilorin, Kwara State, with
Alhaja’s ATM cards.
It
said the okada
rider had since been arrested and was helping detectives with investigation.
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