Published 6th May, 2022

By Abdullah Tijani

Opeyemi Adegun, a Lagos-based flight attendant, has lamented how N750,000 disappeared from her Paga Bank account after Lupen NG, an e-commerce automotive platform, specifically demanded that she opened one before she could be given a car loan.

According to the information on its website, Lupen NG claimed to be giving interested people a loan opportunity to buy a brand new car. People in this category are then expected to repay the loan with interests over a period of 12 to 48 months.

Adegun said she approached the company through its website to secure a car loan and was specifically instructed to open a Paga Bank account as part of their requirements. But shortly after depositing N750,000, the equity contribution for the car she wanted, her money disappeared from the new account.

“The deal was that after getting the car of my choice, they would pay 80 percent, and I would pay 20 percent,” Adegun said.

“Then after I did a documentation that included information on where I work, my identity, statement of account with Lupen NG, they demanded that I opened a Paga account.

“When I demanded to know why I could not use my bank account, I was told that Paga is the only financial institution they work with because they are the source of the loan I am borrowing.”

After opening the account as instructed, Lupen NG asked Adegun to send a screenshot of her account balance.

“After I funded the account with N750,000, and told them about it, they demanded that I send a screenshot of the account balance as proof. Few moments after I sent it to them I realised I could no longer access my Paga account,” she said.

“I reached out to Paga immediately and they asked me to reset my password. When I finally accessed the account after about 30 minutes, I realised my money was no more there.

“I complained to Paga to refund my money, and they told me the money has been transferred by unknown persons to a UBA account.”

Adegun said she was surprised at how it was possible to transfer money from her account when she did not disclose her login details or receive an OTP to confirm any transaction on the account.

“Since my money disappeared, I have not been able to reach Lupen NG because they have not been picking my calls and responding to my messages.”

When FIJ reached out to Paga, the following response was received:

“You stated that her Paga account was compromised and funds were moved from her wallet to a UBA account and she did not share her login details with anyone?

“We would suggest this lady (Adegun) reach out to us directly with either her registered number via our WhatsApp or through her linked email address so we can further investigate and reach out to the bank the funds were transferred to.”

FIJ made several phone calls to Lupen NG for comments but they were not answered. A text message sent to the company has also not been responded to at press time.

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