Fraudsters have hacked the WhatsApp number of Umo Eno, the governor of Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom state, and used it to ask his contacts for money.
On Tuesday, people in the governor’s contact list received messages asking them to send money to an account, with a promise to pay them back later.
The governor’s chief press secretary, Ekerete Udoh, confirmed that the WhatsApp number was cloned by criminals and warned people to ignore any messages requesting money, as they are not from the governor. Authorities have been informed about the scam.
This incident follows a similar attack on the phone of Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun state and uncle of Afrobeats star Davido, just a month ago.
Cybersecurity expert Bilal Abdullahi suggested that governors should add extra security to their WhatsApp accounts, such as linking it to their email for verification and using an app lock feature with a pin or passcode.
Despite efforts by Nigeria’s financial crimes agency, cyber fraud remains a significant issue in the country. The government has invested heavily in a new cyber-crime centre to address these problems.
(Source: BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy76x5y5pg2o