Hackers Invades Lagos ATM's & Plant Devices To Collect Card Data

According to an exclusive report on Punch, a large number of ATM Machines located in Victoria Island, Lekki Peninsula Phase I and II, and Ikoyi areas of Lagos, have been attacked by hackers and electronic fraudsters. The hackers are said to be fixing small fraud tools on the ATMs in order to harvest the passwords of cardholders who come to collect cash or do some other transactions on the machines.

Top bank officials privy to the development said a number of banks had deployed detectives to monitor their ATMs in those locations, especially in the Victoria Island and Lekki axis. A banker reveals that...

“A number of the ATMs in Victoria Island and Lekki axis have been compromised by hackers. Some of these fraudsters visit those ATMs very late in the night or very early in the morning to fix some fraud devices on them, which are capable of collecting cardholders’ information, including their passwords. 

“They come back later to remove those devices. The information collected is then used to commit fraud against those customers later.
“Most of us (banks) are aware of the development and we are very vigilant now. What some of us have done is to get a patrol team of security men to start combing the affected areas and the ATMs from time to time. We will get those guys soon.”

The Vice-Chairman, Committee of e-Banking Industry Heads, Mr. Dele Adeyinka, confirmed the fraudsters’ activities.

“Yes, it is true that hackers are carrying out those activities. It is not only in Victoria Island axis, they are doing it everywhere. But all the banks have complied with the CBN directive on anti-fraud tools. So, it will be difficult for those fraud devices to work.”