Press Release
Chairman,
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde has called on
members of the public to be cautious of the modus operandi of fraudsters
in order not to fall victim of their antics.
Lamorde made
the appeal on Monday, March 23, 2015, while presenting “Red Alert on Scam”, a
special publication of the EFCC, to the press in his office.
“Red Alert on
Scam” is an initiative of the Media and Publicity Unit of the Commission, conceived
as an enlightenment publication to educate members of the public on the antics
of fraudsters, with a view to helping them avoid falling victims of fraud.
Lamorde who
expressed concern over the rate in which vulnerable members of the public
especially youths fall victim of all manners of fraud said, “Many of our
youths, desperate to get employment have fallen into the hands of fraudsters
who dupe them of the little cash at their disposal”.
According to
him, “many agencies of government are targeted by syndicates of fraudsters who
send out false notices of recruitment and go ahead to demand fees from
unsuspecting members of the public to process their applications”.
“Another
dimension to the scam is for the fraudsters to create a website, purporting to
be a portal for employment processing. Such would include a phone number, which
the job seeker is told to call. As soon as the job-seekers calls, the fraudster
begins to make financial demands, requesting the caller to deposit money in a
particular bank account”, said Lamorde.
The EFCC boss
warned prospective job seekers to be wary of people who offer to get them jobs
and always endeavour to verify information by contacting the agencies
concerned.
While
proffering solution to the menace, Lamorde called on members of the public to
be cautious of giving out their bank details and jealously guard their email
passwords/accounts. He also urged them to report any site making any financial
demand in return for securing employment to the Commission or any law
enforcement agency.
The anti-graft
czar also used the opportunity to further warn politicians not to drag the
Commission into political fray in their bid to garner political support ahead
of the nation’s general elections.
Lamorde’s
comment comes on the heels of comments by some politicians in the last few
weeks, imputing political motives to the activities the Commission.
Specifically,
he noted with concern the circulation of a fake letter purportedly from the
office of the Chief of Staff to the President directing the Commission to
investigate some political figures which, according to him, was unfounded and
unfortunate.
The EFCC Chair
also described as rumour, news that made the rounds over the weekend that the
Commission was planning to arrest leaders of a political party as well as a fake
letter in circulation claiming that the EFCC was investigating a former
education minister.
“I like to
sound a note of warning here that the Commission will no longer tolerate people
dropping its name to further their political ends. The EFCC is not a political
body and will not allow itself to be dragged into political fray by desperate
politicians”, Lamorde warned.
According to
him, “the EFCC does not need the prompting of anybody to open investigation
against anyone that has violated the law. But it does the nation no good when
politicians seek to use the name of the Commission to further their political
objectives”.
Responding to a
question on politicians who have cases to answer but still get involved in the
election process, the Chairman opined that our laws needed to be amended in a
way that would presume suspects guilty until proven otherwise.
According to
him, when this is done, suspects would have to be acquitted of the charges
against them before being appointed in to positions of authorities.
The EFCC boss
also cleared the air on the status of the investigation into the polymer note
scam for which Charles Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, was questioned by the agency. He said Soludo was cleared as no wrong
doing was established against him by the investigation.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head Media
& Publicity
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