For Love Or Money
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CBN rolled off the side of its bed one morning, rubbed its hands together and thought,
“What shall I do today?"
“I know”, it cackled, “I shall harmonize all bank account numbers”.
And it gave the mandate. It didn't matter that its minions working in the various banks nationwide had to work weekends in addition to the grueling 5day-work week. No it didn't matter...harmonizing the numbers was the greater good!
Bank accounts were harmonized to 10-digits numbers across all banks.
A few weeks later, CBN and its head honchos thought again,
"Lets 'excite' the citizens a bit more. Now that the harmonized accounts are in place and functioning seamlessly, let us introduce a cashless Nigeria where less cash would be in circulation and most monetary transactions would be card or internet based. BUT let's not give the citizens collective stroke by implementing immediately. Let us allow the idea simmer a bit in their minds then until sometime in 2012 and then we will unleash…full force”.
The citizens balked at the idea. Persons and organizations who have the ears of the apex bank voiced their arguments against the idea; chief amongst the concern being the security of these transaction portals. A very hungry and determined fraudster will make mincemeat of the supposed security in place. Their fears were noted but it changed nothing…that ship is still set to sail come June 2012.
Banks went to work. The internet banking platform was and is still being deployed to every human that requests for it; the magnetic-stripe cards were traded in for the chip-and-pin cards {to reduce fraudulent withdrawals}; POS machines are being deployed in droves and ATM galleries are sprouting everywhere.
We are getting ready for this cashless thing sef….and so is the fraudster.
The face of fraud these days does not wait by the ATM and soak up your pin by osmosis after which you are robbed of the card. No. The face of fraud does not send mails anymore; mails asking that provide your bank card/pin details to authenticate ownership. No, people have wizened up….and so has the fraudster.
These days, the face of fraud has decided to be your friend…your boyfriend in fact. And so is the case with Debbie, a 20-something year old final year student of Law.
Mike told Debbie he is a practicing Medical Doctor in National Hospital, Abuja. He dressed the part. They were introduced by a mutual friend. Their relationship commenced and blossomed via BBM and after three weeks, Mike told Debbie he was coming to her school, all the way to Enugu, to visit her. His annual vacation starts in a few days and he wanted to take the time and come see his new love!
Things were rosy until a few days into the visit when Debbie discovered her debit card inside her bobo’s wallet. “What in God’s name is my debit card doing in his wallet”, she wondered! She asked him and he said she gave him to hold for her the night before. She does not remember any such incident but she didn’t raise alarm. Instead, she quietly left him and rush down to the ATM to confirm her balance {smart girl} but lo, her money was all gone! She had a couple of hundreds in the account; her current balance read 2.5k.
Oh, she’s got credit/debit alerts on that account but the phone that it usually goes to was with the boyfriend, whose phone was being repaired because it, accidentally on purpose, fell into water.
How did he get her pin? Her phones are usually password-locked. Humans are victims of habit. Once we have a workable password/pin, we generally tend to use same for everything. She gave him the pin to unlock the phone whenever it auto-locks! He guessed right…debit card pin and phone password were one and the same!
Mike has disappeared but some more debit cards and laptops were found in his place! Dude is a practising scammer. The police are after his hide but I reserve my comment on the efficiency of our police force! Oh, and he’s no doctor! Doctor oshi!
This is my little contribution to this war against fraud: Your PIN is your identity. It might be difficult but...Do not give away or lose your identity in the name of love! Not unless he/she has put a ring on. In which case its totally fine to lose your identity. After all, two has become one! Until then, biko, GUIDE YOR PIN JEALOUSLY!!
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14 comments:
I have to say I used to guilty of the common PINs but I'm repenting now. I hope everyone wisens up as the changes roll out, because to be honest, I supports the CBN moves and think they'll help open up the economy further.
WOW! i will so freak out if that happens to me. i always use the same password/pin for everything,but after this post.. i am definitely changing that.
Ah....I have to change mine. Chei
now this is what i call "stories that touch"
changing all my pins imediately
It's gonna be really really really really....really hard but i guess i have to change my pins after all. Geez! But isn't writing it somewhere even worse?
U dis woman ehn! The way u tell a story! I didnt see that one coming.
I change mine from time to time. Hopefully, that's almost enough to keep me "safe"
ah! changing it asap!
are u serious? was she blinded with love? well thank God i have different pins and password for everything.
Wow,that's scary, i use different pins, i was actually considering changing them to the same o, so it will be less stressful..i think not..thanks for this
Nightmares. I have to look out for this more oh
Adiya
Muse Origins FB
When I saw your profile pix, i just knew you went to UNN. Scrolling through your posts proved me right. Pharm babe, what are you doing in the bank? :-D. I had quite a number of friends in Pharmacy. Did you know any of these peeps: Anwuli Olele, Njideka, Chiemelie Okenwa, Nnenna Eke, Mfon Okon? Were you in Awo or Aja hall? I laughed at your remembrance of Mama Leke. I loved Kitchen's oha soup. That was some good stuff. I also know Maynezee. She is my sister from another mother. We grew up together, from the same primary school to the same university with my siblings. It's such a small world. You can tell her that you met Che via blogsville. I love your blog. I've gone through some of your posts and you make a lot of sense. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Loving yours and following right back. *hugssss*
naijabankgirl.blogspot.com
It just occurred to me that I didn't even comment on the fraud issue. I have heard about them and even been a victim sef while at work. We all need to be vigilant and trust no one with certain info. And these internet fraudsters are getting smarter by the day. As for Sanusi and his CBN crew, lemme not even visit their case today cos i might just write another blog here.
naijabankgirl.blogspot.com
@Myne I know CBN means well. Its just whether we are really ready for this one change!
@FrauleinBadass Pls change it asap.
@SisiYemmie @Luciano @WiseSage @Toinlicious I'm guilty of this too and yet to rectify it.
@HoneyDame *wink*
@enjaykay @Jemima How do y'all remember all them passwords and pin?
@MuseOrigin Do that!
@Che I know them ALL. Can you imagine? Frigging small world! Will definitely tell Maynezee. Following you right back!
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