Chinedu Uchendu (not real name), a Port Harcourt-based construction worker, has narrated how N278,000 was debited from his First Bank account without his consent.

Speaking with FIJ, Uchendu stated that he woke up to debit notifications in the wee hours of December 16.

He said that he immediately reached out to the bank’s customer care centre to complain but the agent who attended to him asked that he wait till Monday as it was a Saturday.

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“I woke up around 3:30 am to debit notifications on my phone on December 16. They were debits for transactions I did not initiate,” he told FIJ.

“I immediately called the bank’s customer care centre, and after explaining to the sleepy agent that I did not authorise the withdrawals, she asked that I wait till Monday to report at any branch of the bank.

“But I kept receiving debit alerts. When I couldn’t hold it anymore, I called the contact centre again at 5 am and the second agent who picked up said my debit card had been compromised and he would block the card to stop further withdrawals.”

Uchendu further stated that the agent told him he still had over N200,000 in his account, which would be restricted from further transactions, but the debits didn’t stop until his account was emptied

“He also said I should visit the nearest branch on Monday to access the money, and he affirmed that my card had been blocked from further compromise.

“To my greatest surprise, I kept receiving debit alerts for different amounts until my account was emptied.

“On the day the fraudulent transaction took place and the next, I spoke with six different First Bank customer agents. Two of them said my account was under lien already, while three of them had no clue about where the debit was coming from.”

The construction worker said that when he visited the bank two days after the fraudulent transaction, the officials told him that the chances of recovering his money were slim.

“I went to First Bank, Woji, in Port Harcourt, where the card was issued. I told the customer care official that my card was recently issued, and he said hackers could have got my details from a PoS or via an internet transaction I had done in the past,” he said.

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“I filled out a set of forms there, and then he told me that the chances of recovering my money were 50/50, but that I should check back after Christmas.

“I have also complained on their official Instagram page, but they keep insisting I compromised my details.

“They are not being honest, because I do not understand why N200,000 could still be withdrawn from my account even after one of their agents said he had restricted transactions on it.

“It is almost a month now, and First Bank still has no clear idea about how my money disappeared.”

When FIJ called First Bank, Adedolapo, a customer representative agent, said they had discovered that the fraudulent transaction took place on the web and the customer’s money was sent to MSports.

“He filed a complaint, and a case was logged for him, but the resolution given to him was that the transaction was done over the web and was initiated on MSports. This is because he has his card details saved there,” he said.

“But a chargeback has been initiated for him, and we would also provide him with a journal of the transaction, but we would advise that he engage Msports for further conversations on the transaction.

“He should also visit any branch of our bank to request the journal of this transaction because it was successful from our end.”

However, when FIJ asked Uchendu if it was true he had his card details saved on MSports, he denied it.

“You need to input your PIN or card verification value before any transaction can go through, and those weren’t stored there,” he said.