VAM News Update

A 63-year-old woman (name withheld) has fallen ill after losing N6.2m to fraudsters in Lagos.

The victim’s daughter, Anu Joseph, told newsmen that her traumatised mother was currently battling High Blood Pressure as a result of the incident.

Joseph said trouble started when she transferred an undisclosed amount of money to her mum on June 7, 2023, to address an urgent matter.

She said when her mother visited the bank, she could not complete the transaction because she needed a particular document that was not with her on that day.

According to her, while returning from the bank, her mum fell into the hands of fraudsters.

She said, “It happened on June 7, 2023. I transferred some money to my mum for something very important and I asked her to go to a branch of a bank on Victoria Island. She went but could not complete the transaction because of one missing document.

“She came out of the bank to leave and was asking how she would get to Ojuelegba from there. Coincidentally, a car parked in front of her and the driver asked her where she was headed and she told him. He asked her to enter.

“According to my mum, they started discussing Pounds, someone having a consignment and all that, and they convinced her to withdraw N3m and give it to them.”

She claimed that her mother, in the company of the driver, withdrew N3m, and went with the driver to meet some people who provided bank details that the money was paid.

“My mum could not tell anyone until her BP went high and she became ill. She is no longer in her right frame of mind since she realised it was a scam. She didn’t want to accept that she has been defrauded,” Joseph said.

She added that the fraudsters continued to call her mum on the telephone and she kept sending money to them until she had no more money to give.

“As if that was not enough, these people kept contacting her and she kept sending them money to the tune of N6.2m,” she added.

Joseph wondered why it was difficult for the policemen at the Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex, Alagbon, where the case was reported, to trace the fraudsters despite that their bank details were provided.

The spokesperson of the FCID, Niyi Ogundeyi, said he met with the victim’s daughter and that investigation was ongoing on the case.

He said, “I met with the victim’s daughter. I have seen the petition, and some processes need to be funded irrespective of the policeman that will treat it.

“They need to do tracking and it will cost money. The police don’t have a tracking machine. They also need a court order to be able to track the phone numbers on the accounts instead of looking for people without addresses.

“In Lagos, courts don’t give court orders again. The police will have to go to Ibadan to go get this court order because banks will not do anything without it.

“It is a process and the police do not have money to do all that.

“However, the investigation is still ongoing and from my findings, the policeman in charge of the case is doing the needful to make sure the suspects are arrested.”

Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, however, advised citizens to learn from other people’s experiences.

“People should learn from other people’s experiences and travails. They should not just engage in financial conversations with anybody and should be very careful.

“The police will always work on every complaint we get and we will continue to sensitise people to be very careful as they go about their daily activities,” he said.