Zenith Bank Plc, a leading multinational financial service provider in Nigeria has been called out on social media by a lady simply identified as Dr. Ola Sandra Ndukwe after a sum of N450,000 was withdrawn from her account in less than 24 hours.
Newsbreak Nigeria reports that Sandra Ndukwe took to her Twitter handle to narrate how her Zenith App was hacked a couple of weeks ago and all efforts to rectify the issue proved abortive, following negligence on the part of the bank.
In a tweet thread that has garnered reactions, she narrated her ordeal, while calling on Nigerians to be wary of the bank:I
She tweeted, “If you’re still banking with Zenith Bank… you better think twice. I never wanted to post this, but for the sake of “innocent” people that may fall victim… I did. Some days back, my Zenith App was hacked into. I lost a sum of 450k (my daily limit is 500k).
If you’re still banking with Zenith Bank…you better think twice.
I never wanted to post this, but for the sake of “innocent” people that may fall victim…I did.
Some days back my Zenith App was hacked into.
I lost a sum of 450k (my daily limit is 500k)
A thread…— Dr Ola Sandra Ndukwe (@olakhisha) October 18, 2022
“Few weeks prior to this, I lost my wallet which had my First bank and Zenith bank ATM cards in it. I immediately blocked both cards through the self-service codes. Same day, I got a new First bank card. Weeks later, I tried doing some transactions and realised the Zenith app.
“Couldn’t function without a card/Token. I had none. I went to Zenith Bank and requested a new card and an E-token. I logged into the Zenith mobile app and discovered both the “lost” card and the current card were showing “Active”.
“I complained and customer service assured me the stolen card wasn’t active. Also, I wasn’t receiving alerts both credit and debit alerts. The same customer care claimed my alert service was “on”.
Since I made this post, I have been receiving messages like this. This is so painful and disheartening.
Zenith Bank knows exactly what is going on. Quite unfortunate pic.twitter.com/XE6D46LvUU— Dr Ola Sandra Ndukwe (@olakhisha) October 19, 2022
“Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, I tried logging into my app and noticed I couldn’t access my app. It showed “Register”. I didn’t understand why the usual “login” wasn’t displayed.
“My gut instinct told me something was definitely wrong. This was by 5:23 pm. I made several attempts to log in, all proved abortive. Immediately, I received a code from Zenith Bank. I knew there was a problem. My friend & I tried blocking the card & account, it repeatedly read “Error”.
“By 5:33 pm, I succeeded in logging into my app via the E-token. A total of 300k was already withdrawn at this time. I got to the bank, no one was available except the security. They tried blocking my account, same error. They reached out to the bankers.
“They repeatedly said dial9… bla bla. Same thing I have been doing for over 30 mins. Like do I look like I’m a fool? I was asked to send an emergency mail to Zenith, I did… to no avail. I sent this mail by 6:30 pm. They replied after 1 hour. By then I had lost 450k.
“As an individual, I was trying every possible means to stop whoever it is that had access to my app since the bank obviously couldn’t Help. It was at this time I found out that “Two devices were active at the same time” — my phone and ACCOUNT MANAGER.
“I finally succeeded in deleting the account manager. By 8:13 pm, Zenith Bank replied my mail that my account has been blocked. Funny. But this is why I am making this post…. the name of the person that had access to my app is there with his account details.
“All the transactions they made. The account details etc. The most painful part of this is that they used 100k to play “Bet”. My hard-earned money.
“I was at the bank as early as 7am the following morning. I was told…# 1. My alert system was deactivated. Now the big question is…”by who? It’s only a banker that can do this. Reason I never received any alert all through this incident. 2. They can not restrict the account.
“Accounts the money was transferred to unless I provide some stupid report or evidence that I did not grant anyone access to my phone. They were able to confirm an iPhone 6 was used for the transactions. I know no one using such a phone.
“Well, to cut the long story short…I succeeded in transferring my remaining money to my first bank and regrettably shut the account down for good. Be careful if you’re banking with Zenith. Be very careful.
“Apparently the code I received was for my daily limit to be increased to above a million. Thank God I had an E-token. Zenith Bank’s emergency service is zero. They have no regard for their customers. Every incident that happened was well documented by me.
“You know a bad bank when a staff of same bank is even encouraging you to sue the bank. I don’t think I have that energy because the system is so corrupt that you will spend a million for a half a million lost. This is me just telling you all to be careful. Zenith bank is zero,” she tweeted.
Zenith Bank’s Response
Reacting to the allegation, Zenith Bank in a tweet on Wednesday, promised to look into the issue.
“Kindly send us a direct message to enable us assist you,” the tweet read.
Kindly send us a direct message to enable us assist you.
— Zenith Bank (@ZenithBank) October 19, 2022
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