Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday, revealed how his account was hacked by a Yahoo Boy who is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Odunews.com reports that the EFCC arrested a man, Wakil Malik, for impersonating the minister and defrauding him of N3.1 million.
He was accused of committing fraud using the minister’s name in March 2019.
The EFCC told Justice C.J. Aneke that Wakili conspired with one Abdullahi Umar, who is at large, “to fraudulently impersonate the former Lagos State governor with intent to gain a monetary advantage for themselves.”
The defendant “converted the total sum of N3,106,216, being the value of the minister’s Air-miles Skywards Account Number EK248739282 with the Emirate Airlines and which sum they reasonably ought to have known formed part the proceeds of their unlawful activity, to wit: fraud.”
The Minister speaking on the incident, said the amount mentioned was the worth of Air Miles which the suspect derived from fraudulently hacking into his internet account and creating a false identity which he, among other benefits, used to buy first class tickets to various parts of the world.
Fashola said this in a statement issued by his spokesman, Hakeem Bello.
The statement read: “The Minister neither knew nor transacted any business with the suspect that involved or would have led to his being swindled.
“The amount being mentioned was the worth of Air Miles which the suspect derived from fraudulently hacking into his (Minister’s) internet account and creating a false identity which he, among other benefits, used to buy first class tickets to various parts of the world.
“Having persistently hacked into the accounts for over a period of six years, the suspect was tracked by the Minister until enough evidence was gathered which was then passed on to the security agencies.”
