N.8m Internet Fraud Rocks Diamond Bank

       Just when most banks in Nigeria are investing heavily in making their online banking operations very secured, thereby building customers’ confidence, Diamond Bank seems to be left behind and happy at the hardships its customers are presently languishing in due to the bank’s inefficiencies.

Or what best can explain how some fraudsters would transfer the hard-earned money of a customer of the bank (name withheld), who paid the bank for a so-called ‘secure token’, which is an anti-fraud hardware, and Diamond Bank cannot explain how the ‘secure token’ was breached and money moved without its knowledge or the customer’s and Diamond Bank is now trying to absolve itself from the whole mess?

No doubt, Diamond Bank might be telling its customers that their hard-earned money is no more safe in their custody. The bank cannot still explain what happened to the N818,000 of the said customer or blocked the accounts where the money was transferred to. Ripping off Nigerians you would say?

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of Diamond Bank, which is gradually becoming one of the most fraudulent banks in Nigeria, the embittered customer claimed that the bank is trying to push the blame to him after he was earlier told by the bank to pay the sum of N4900 for the ‘secure token’ to protect his internet banking from fraud. But after obliging the bank, he can’t get explanations as to how his 818,000 was transferred by some unscrupulous elements without his knowledge.

Mi5 gathered that this is just one of the numerous cases of the fraudulent activities going on in the Alex Otti-led Diamond Bank, which prides itself to be a bank that is ‘there for you’. Some customers of the Diamond Bank told Mi5 that most of these frauds, especially the internet scams, are allegedly carried by the IT department of Diamond Bank. The affected customer narrated his ordeal below.

“Please I am going through serious pains right now and I really need help on the way forward. I opened a Salary Account with Diamond Bank in September 2012 to keep funds for my wife as I was travelling for my M.Sc program in the United Kingdom this January 2013.

“I applied for internet banking to be able to make transfers in December 2012 paying the exorbitant amount of N4,900 which they told me was for a token device which would secure my account from fraud.

“As at April this year, from salary inflows and other deposits, I had a total of about 820,000 Naira in the account. I woke up on the 23rd of April 2013 to see multiple debit alerts from my account with my so-called secure token still in my bag here in the UK.

“I immediately emailed the bank on the fraudulent withdrawal and received only an auto-response. With the lack of reply, I called their customer care line and after waiting through the long interactive voice response process finally got to speak to someone.

“The person who answered said they were going to take on the case and I kept getting new responses anytime I called back. It was a day later after angrily speaking to the person who gave me another assorted ‘canned’ reply that I was given a phone number which I should call to get the matter resolved.

“When I called, I spoke to a certain Mr. Ifeyemi who said they are investigating the matter and also asked me a series of questions to support the investigation. Based on the outcome of the so-called investigation, the bank is telling me stories that an email was sent to my laptop which took the money.

“I am now being told by diamond bank that I would be the one to look for the fraudsters and they are not liable for any damages. The accounts where my hard-earned money was transferred to are all indicated. Isn’t a bank which sold me a product which is secure supposed to freeze the accounts where my money was transferred to pending investigation since I reported the fraud immediately?

“My wife is stranded in Nigeria. I am stranded in the United Kingdom and the Bank which claims to be ‘There for you’ is trying to avoid all responsibility for the occurrence after I have paid for a ‘secure toke’

Maybe those banking with Diamond Bank will have to be very careful of their hard-earned money in the bank’s custody or how can Diamond Bank claim to be ‘there for you’ when it’s never there when you truly need a bank? Maybe customers need to think twice now after reading this story.