Many people don’t even realize how to lose their phone because scammers can completely wipe out their bank account.
If you ask a banker, he or she will tell you about the hundreds of customers who often rush to the bank for help after noticing that the money in their bank account has fallen below its required level, or they have turned red.
These fraudsters do this by stealing the victim’s identity; Name, address, bank details they used to access their bank account. They also use stolen identities to deceive others and even apply for loans, leaving victims in deep debt.
A local scammer who was caught by police admitted to stealing money from people’s bank accounts via their SIM cards. It claims to perform “Wire Wire”, also known as a SIM transaction or “Joker Wire”, where it can unblock, transfer, and withdraw any SIM card linked to a bank account.
In a video posted to Twitter by Jubril Gawat, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) for new media to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the arrested fraudster admits that once he gets hold of such a call, he can easily do so. access it Dial *425*100# to view the bank account linked to the SIM card.
For example, if the account is an Access Bank, *901*00# is called to display the user’s account balance. He then resets the PIN and the bank asks for the account holder’s account number and date of birth. Since many people save their account number in their contact list, he can easily retrieve it there.
He then uses the account number to get the victim’s BVN, after which he uses the BVN to fetch all his details by dialing *565*0#. With this information, the PIN is reset and then uses the date of birth to create a new PIN. From there he can transfer money from his account.
He further stated that if the SIM card holder is working or has a working account, they are entitled to apply for credit. As long as the SIM card is used to receive bank account notifications, he can hack it. This is done so effectively that the main account holder does not receive notifications of transactions that have occurred.
He transferred the stolen money to a “No Trace Account” (Aza) using another stolen sim with his BVN to create it.
So that the new account will be used to receive funds and the owner of the stolen SIM card can be tracked.
Even if he doesn’t see a SIM card to use, he can use it to earn money as long as he can get BVN.
It’s hard to keep up with the many cybercriminals, who are constantly changing their techniques to trick the authorities. Falling victim to a scam can affect people of all ages and cost a lot of money.
We have valuable information that we give easily but unknowingly. And there are people out there waiting to get that kind of information. It is recommended that we always be careful about where and how we store our personal data.