Long after several people have been defrauded of their money through social engineering scams, Interswitch Nigeria the leading issuer of local ATM/Debit cards appears to be acting now. According to a recent report by Daily Trust:
Interswitch Nigeria Limited in collaboration with banks last week inaugurated an awareness campaign to protect ATM card holders against fraudsters and to educate them on the payment card in the country.
In the last few months there have been various messages requesting cardholders to register their debit, credit or cash card details under the guise of participating in non-existent promotions or with the promise of winning bogus prizes.
[...]
But inaugurating the cardholders’ awareness campaign in Lagos, the Managing Director of Interswitch, Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, explained that the main objective of the campaign scheduled to run on radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards is to protect card holders from fraudsters, who temper with ATM cards’ PINs in order to have access to cardholders banks’ accounts.
According to Mr. Elegbe, the joint campaign between Interswitch and participating banks, has been designed to also create awareness on card usage without generating unnecessary panic in the minds of cardholders and to also enlighten them of channels on which their cards can be used other than just cash withdrawals at ATMs.
I had blogged about such scams here and here in the past.
Well, I’d say better late than never. It beats me that the banks did not include a short manual with every ATM card they issued before now, warning customers about the possibility of fraudsters tricking them into giving up their ATM PIN codes and how to guard against such.
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It is painful that they waited this long before taking necessary step to ensure that their customers are not robbed of hard earned money. I have really been skeptical of using the card even though I carry it about in my purse simply because I have heard numerous unpleasant stories from friends.
At last there “appears” to be proactive action towards ridding our country of these so called ATM thieves. I emphasize appears because simlar statements have only be drowned by inactivity and non chalance .
Maybe there should be an ATM bill of rights that states emphatically what every ATM user is entitled to vis a vis security while withdrawing money These Rights should be pasted by the side of every ATM. I have often found it repulsive to see people standing in cue to use the ATM, i mean directly behind the current user…. security breach . On no account should that happen. That lack of manners is petty compared to what i experienced very recently , I got an SMS 2 months ago, saying i had won #400,000 in a promo organized by a mobile carrier {Not mentioned ) . The senders of the fraudulent sms advised me to go to my ATM to wait while they paid in the money to my account, maybe they thought they had some form of hypnosis over me that would render me naive to their strategem , well i must have really disappointed them .Despite my ability to escape that potential bankruptcy, others havent and there is perhaps an unending myriad of woes to narrate. The interesting thing here is that the sms carried the logo of the mobile carrier { ingenuity laced with fraud}. I pray that this current effort to curb this vice is not lip service to a canker worm that is an offspring of bigger menace .
I want to say that each person using ATM should stand along thank you
Iam not surprise hearing about the ATM scandal. What am surprise at is the money the companies involved are spending on the awareness campaign. I suggest that they use it to sponsor sites that are teaching young Africans on how to make genuine money online or offline. Nigerians are creative, they only need intelligent professional business consultants. Who will help discover and direct their talents in the right direction. That’s what we need. Or else THEIR awareness campaign can’t HELP!
[...] had a similar experience in Ibadan in March when no Interswitch ATM would process my GTB-issued ATM card. Obviously, GTB’s network was down and so my card could [...]
At last there “appears” to be proactive action towards ridding our country of these so called ATM thieves. I emphasize appears because similar statements have only be drowned by inactivity and nonchalance.
Maybe there should be an ATM bill of rights that states emphatically what every ATM user is entitled to vis a vis security while withdrawing money These Rights should be pasted by the side of every ATM. I have often found it repulsive to see people standing in queue to use the ATM, i mean directly behind the current user…. security breach . On no account should that happen. That lack of manners is petty compared to what i experienced very recently , I got an SMS 2 months ago, saying i had won #400,000 in a promo organized by a mobile carrier {Not mentioned} . The senders of the fraudulent sms advised me to go to my ATM to wait while they paid in the money to my account, maybe they thought they had some form of hypnosis over me that would render me naive to their strategem , well i must have really disappointed them. Despite my ability to escape that potential bankruptcy, others haven’t and there is perhaps an unending myriad of woes to narrate. The interesting thing here is that the sms carried the logo of the mobile carrier {ingenuity laced with fraud}. I pray that this current effort to curb this vice is not lip service to a canker worm that is an offspring of bigger menace .
Hi David,
like interswitch & e-tranzact, how many such payment companies exist in nigeria as at today.
Thanks for giving me this information.
Obioma
we have to do a lot of research. we as a finance oriented being along with the computer litrates. just to stem the ill practise.
i,ll like to be part of such research. wole joshua
please tell me categorically ,how much is the maximum an atm card holder can withraw from his/her account assming that the account is well funded.i am asking this question beleiving that there is a common law guiding the usage of atm card .i mean interswich atm card or does it vary from bank to bank?
Its alarming also sad to see a group of pple who enjoy other pples hard earned money because they think they are smart.They forget about the boomerang effect of life as regards whatever you do.Lately i was swinddled of N52,000 and it was a big blow on me,got an expectant wife and a kid to fend for and this happend!its just sad for them…thats all
hmmm.a message keeps comin to my inbox that i should register my debit cards,cash cards and xchange cards online to enable my cards work on their new servers since they want to upgrade their systems,is this true.they asked fr d pin and card number and if i dont adhere to d instructions,i wont be able to use my atm card on any atm machine.does anybody know anythin?pls let me know
Don’t get scammed Kemi! It’s a fraudulent email and that is what this blog post is about. To warn you against such fraud. If in doubt, consult your bank.
u’re on point Mr Niyi..I got several of those too..i did a thorough analysis of the scam thinga and had to even post it on Facebook,the website they tell you to register ur ATM details e.t.c are not of Interswitch’s and for what reason would any financial institution tell a customer to register their details cos they upgraded their system..so what happened to previous data??..I wonder why we Nigerians keep doing this to even ourselves…can u imagine, i aint even in Nigeria,closed my Firstbank account since 05 and even last december dat i came over for holls,i dint have a bank account,so imagine..so KEMI KEMI KEMI,how many times did i call u..lol..dont mind dem o..NO BANK WILL ASK FOR YOUR TRANSACTING DETAILS(ATM PIN,CARD NUMBER e.t.c),you can pass on to others too..for a thorough analysis,u can check out my note on facebook,search for fabiyi fabolous olawale taza..do take kia..regards..nice one here niyi..winks
hi you guys are together,
a terrible experience of mine, ATM use to be the best option for me though i spend extravagantly but i dont complain. on this day 15-may-2009, today is exactly 1month i been endouring the shock caused by ATM. i went to withdraw my last 15k via ATM , the money was not given to me but i was debited up till now that money have not been reverted. please advice me on what to do , though my only option is settling in court of law. my bank is FIDELITY and the ATM involved is ACCESS BANK , onne road branch portharcourt.
I dont care how one looks at it but anything – and I mean anything – Nigerian and I am out in a flash. Some even try to be humble but all are poisonous. Sometimes even my blood runs cold at the sight of anything green and white. Take my advice, at the mention of Nigeria, just back off without warning run! very fast.