Rebecca Enobong, a Zenith Bank customer, lost almost N140,000 to fraudsters between December 13, 2021 and January 12, 2022, despite initiating account restrictions on December 12, 2021.

She told FIJ she had emailed her bank to restrict access to her account after noticing a mysterious phone number was added to receive One-Time Passwords (OTPs).

The Germany-based student was notified of the change via email on December 12, and immediately wrote to the bank, requesting they restrict the account as she was unable to use her banking app and pin.

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“My email was not responded to, but I was getting debit alerts, and my account was cleared,” she told FIJ.

The first debit came on December 13. It was a N19,900 payment made for an online purchase via Paystack. Not long after, N9,421.95 was deducted twice from her account and transferred to HelloPayAfrica International Service.

Twenty-four hours after her first complaint, Zenith Bank replied her mail, saying the matter had been logged for investigation, and her SMS alert profile had been deactivated.

The bank’s response read:

Dear Valued Customer,  

Thank you for your mail to ZenithDirect.  

Kindly be informed that your SMS alert profile has been deactivated and the referenced transaction escalated to the appropriate desk for investigation. Feedback will be communicated once received. 

Thinking her ordeal was over, she awaited the result of the investigation.

However, things went downhill again for her a month after. On January 12, 2022, she began to receive debit alerts on her account.

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To Afrointroductions Online Au, she lost N9,000. WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA deducted about N106,800.

Frustrated by this new deductions, she mailed a complaint to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In her mail, she detailed the amounts debited, dates, bank channel and tracking number.

Amounts debited	Dates	Bank channel	Tracking num
19,900	13.12.2021	Paystack	T15041986061127600Swxjxd
9,421.95	13.12.2021	HelloPayAfrica Int Service	83C6C0244E1894-47CBC Central pay direct debit
9,421.95	13.12.2021	Hellopay Africa int service	B20AA9EFDCC596524E1A Central pay direct debit
4,500	12.01.2022	AFROINTRODUCTIONS ONLINE AU	No number
$16.90	12.01.2022	WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA	none
$54	12.01.2022	WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA	none
$35.90	12.01.2022	WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA	NONE
4,500	12.01.2022	AFROINTRODUCTIONS ONLINE AU	none
$16.90	12.01.2022	WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA	NONE
$54	12.01.2022	WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA	NONE
$35.90	12.01.2022	WISH.COM SAN FRANCISCO CA	NONE

When FIJ contacted Zenith Bank, a customer service agent said the matter was being investigated.