E-Payments Fraud: Police nab PoS operator for lavishing N280m mistakenly sent to his bank account

*Police officers from the ‘C’ Division station, in Ilorin, Kwara State, have arrested the male suspect on the order of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Alagbon-Close, Ikoyi, Lagos

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

For embarking on spending spree after receiving alerts for money mistakenly transferred to his bank account, Police detectives have arrested a Point of Sale (PoS) operator, simply identified as Alfa Rafiu, in Kwara State.

Suspect Rafiu is a resident of Akuji Compound, in Abayawo area of Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state, according to report.

Moble payment and PoS channels

Competent sources in the area, who are familiar with the issue alleged that Rafiu suddenly started lavishing the money after he received the alerts in batches of several millions some weeks ago.

A source disclosed: “About two weeks ago, he received several bank alerts that scaled up to N280 million, which he knew nothing about.

“But instead of him to draw the attention of the bank that mistakenly transferred the huge fund, he went on a spending spree.”

The source continued: “Rafiu bought houses, cars and sponsored people to the lesser Hajj. “Some of those he sponsored are presently in Saudi Arabia as we speak.”

According to the sane source, “although he was generous to several people in the community, some residents were surprised about his sudden wealth as a PoS operator.”

How Police officers effect arrest of suspect in Ilorin

It was gathered that the Police officers from the “C” Division Police station, Oja-Oba, Ilorin, which is in charge of the area, accompanied by some bank officials had arrested the suspect.

Likewise, Rafiu’s PoS shop has been shut, while some of the residents in the compound said he had travelled and they did not know the time he would return, report noted.

Ajayi Okasanmi (SP), Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kwara State Command, confirmed the incident.

Okasanmi affirmed “yes, the matter is true, but his arrest was effected by the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID) from Alagbon-Close, Ikoyi, Lagos which makes it completely out of our purview.”