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What exactly happened to your money and how did it happened?
It is sad. It is a nightmare that I am yet to get over. I will forever regret the day I decided to open an account with GTB. I had an account with Zenith Bank already, but I went to Ifo market one day and these ladies wearing GTB T-shirt were going after everybody in the market cajoling them with account opening form to have an account with the bank.
I collect the form thinking it won’t be a bad idea if I have two bank accounts. That was the beginning of my nightmare.
What happened next?
After a while, my account number was sent to me…and I later went to activate the accounts at their Sango Ota branch, after which I began my little transaction on the account.
How then did your money disappear?
My father is a very kind person, a lover of his children and very passionate about their future. Sometimes in July 2019, he had deposited N250, 000 in to my account number (04-23-86-07-36), for my university admission processes. In fact, it was at the peak of the crisis that I knew that the account which I thought I opened in Sango was actually domiciled at Ikotun Egbe, in Lagos State.
Precisely on Saturday, 20th of July, 2019, I received a text message supposedly from the bank on my phone to “upgrade some information on my account.” I innocently obliged and that was the genesis of the nightmare. Within 18 hours, the entire N250, 000 in the account was transferred to various accounts.
What did you do next?
The shock was too much for me. My father told me he kept the money in my account to keep it away from spending. So, I actually did not know how to tell him. I later confided in my Mum, who now followed me to the Bank in Sango to complain and to obtain the statement of account.
What did you see in the statement?
The statement of account obtained from the bank showed that on 20th July, 2019, the sum of N80, 000 was yanked off the account via POS/WEB Purchase Transaction 766634-134659-CASABELLA INTERNATIONAL. The next day, 21st July, 2019, there was an NIBSS Instant Payment of N5, 000 Outward to a First Bank of Nigeria, FBN Leramo Akinwumi Olamide. This was followed immediately by another N5, 000 to the same account.
The third transaction of the day was a double transfer of N50, 000 each NIBSS Instant Payment Outward to UBA/ Agbokun Ayoka. This was followed by another transfer of N20, 000; and N10, 000 respectively to the same UBA account of Agbokun Ayoka.
The last tranche of the fraud was a USSD transfer of N20, 000 to Amuokuyo Success Imengowen, leaving a paltry N2, 500 in the account.
That was how I lost everything!
What did you do after this?
My Mum eventually told my father. Though he took it calm, but I really pitied him. I initially ran out of the house, because I could not continue to face him. But he came to look for me and brought me home.
Later he told me he wrote to the Complaint Team of GTB, but nothing came out of it.
What lesson did you learn from this?
Lesson? It was my worst nightmare. I will never forgive GTB. In fact, the account is still there, I never bother to close it. They can eat it if they like. But vengeance belong to God. I know God will visit the bank and pay them back.
