Fraudsters clone EFCC chairman’s phone, extort money

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says fraudsters have cloned the telephone line of its chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

The EFCC said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that fraudsters had been impersonating Magu and extorting money from members of the public.

He, therefore, warned Nigerians to be careful.

The warning comes a few weeks after the commission revealed that a syndicate had opened a Facebook account in Magu’s name and was using the platform to ask prominent Nigerians for favours.

The statement read in part, “A few weeks after the commission raised the alarm over the activities of a syndicate which opened a Facebook account in the name of the EFCC boss and began soliciting for friendship from prominent individuals and all manner of favours, using the platform; another group has cloned the telephone numbers of the acting chairman.

“The latest group has been making calls to close contacts of the anti-graft czar and other prominent personalities demanding for huge sums of money using various pretexts.

“Members of the public are hereby warned to disregard any call supposedly from the EFCC chairman, asking for payments to be made either to nominated proxies or accounts as such calls do not emanate from Ibrahim Magu.”

The EFCC spokesman explained that no official of the commission would demand money from anyone.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to report suspicious people to the police or the anti-graft agency.

He added, “For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC chairman and indeed all officials of the agency do not solicit for or accept payments or gratification from persons or organisations under any guise.

Members of the public are enjoined to report anyone claiming to be acting on behalf of the acting chairman or other officials of the EFCC at any of the commission’s offices in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano, Gombe, Ibadan and Maiduguri or the nearest police station.”