The biggest story making the rounds in the banking sector presently is how pioneer financial institution First Bank Nig. Plc is alleged to be raking in millions of Naira from illegalities occurring from customers’ transactions involving Western Union Money Transfers.
While it is a fact that speculations have been around on the probability that this bank really defrauds its customers of their hard-earned money when they transfer funds to their families, investigations by www.theoctopusnews.com revealed that while Western Union Money Transfer was initially a blessing to people hoping to transfer money both locally and internationally presently; it is a curse as people both abroad and at home transferring money from one state to the other have started complaining of encountering one problem or the other when transferring funds to their loved ones.
First Bank Nig. Plc is alleged to be making serious funds from several deals that are involved in just many transactions. The smallest fraud the bank is alleged to be perpetrating without the customer knowing is how they simply tell the customers that the bank does not have dollars to pay, and would have them paid in Naira. With this way, the claimant’s money becomes lesser compared to when he or she changes it at a Bureau De Change where he or she will get more money. First Bank Nig. Plc is now alleged to systematically coerce the customer to transact with them at times, telling him or her that the Bureau De Change is not safe enough.
If that is saddening enough, what about the fact that it is alleged that in a bid to meet the demand for foreign currency by their bigger customers, the bank knowingly, and stylishly inconveniences the smaller clients, telling them they can’t be paid in dollars because they don’t have in stock the denomination required: they eventually pay their customer in Naira and keep the original dollars for bigger patrons. Most times, the customers are only told the banks, lack dollars after they have released their vital information, including their personal identification numbers and other security questions relating to the transaction so that the customer is forced to do business with them and avoid the risk of going to another bank and being told there is a particular problem with the transaction.
If you think this is the height of the alleged fraud the Mr. Olabisi Onasanya-led bank is involved in, perhaps you need to prepare yourself because the scenario you are about to read will knock you off your feet.
www.theoctopusnews.com found out that as part of the racketeering allegedly taking place in the financial institution involving Western Union Money Transfer transactions, the tellers in the bank have now allegedly strategized ways of claiming other people’s money using agents.
The moment a customer comes in the bank and is told they don’t have dollars and he or she decides to transact with another branch, because they prefer collecting their money in dollars the First Bank teller simply calls up an agent who waltz into the banking hall and claims the money using the transaction information which the real owner of the money had earlier provided. That way, he collects the money and when the original owner of the money gets to another branch he or she finds out that the money has been claimed. At several instances customers have had to storm different branches of First Bank Nig. Plc to complain with nothing, having been done about the development. We now find most customers who transact with First Bank Western Union Money Transfer asking the tellers if they have dollars before divulging any of their vital transaction information.
The scenario being adopted by the bank and its representatives for swindling customers are very significant, but the case of Mr. Wale Adenifuja is an unfortunate one that will bring tears to your eyes. He told www.theoctopusnews.com of how, some months back, his brother in America sent him money to pay for his mother’s hospital bills only for him to get to the Oba Akran Branch of First Bank Nig. Plc only to be told that they did not have dollars in their branch. Adenifuja told us that he innocently went to another branch and was told that the money had simply disappeared.
He told us all efforts to get to the bottom of the disappeared money proved abortive, as the teller referred him back to his brother who sent the money. He told us that at the end of the day nothing was done about the money.
If that was bad enough, what about the case of Bayo Anikilaya, who suffered similar fate to what you just read. According to him, after visiting the Ikorodu branch of First Bank Nig. Plc, and was told they didn’t have dollars, to pay him, he went to another branch where he was told the money had gone missing. According to him, after causing trouble at the bank he was told the money had been withdrawn in a Mile2 branch of same bank. It was a sad experience that he never wanted to recount again, he told www.theoctopusnews.com
The frauds and inconsistency of the fund transfer system is so bad that a review page on www.reviewcentre.com quoted a customer who allegedly sent money from his based to Kenya using the new system mobile transaction complaining about how the receiver got to the bank and was told the money had been cashed. According to him, when he called the customer service he was transferred to Costa Rica, he told us the whole affair was a merry go round for seven days. Another customer wrote about how his grandmother had died and he sent $450.00 to his father only to be charged $40.00, he said when he could not afford it he decided to go to Money Gram who charges $11.58 only to be told by officials of Western Union that they could reverse the transaction, but he would have to forfeit the initial charges he had paid. The incensed man, wrote it was a shame First Bank does not care about it customers.
The alleged scam being perpetrated in First Bank Nig. Plc is so massive that they are now alleged of conniving with advance fee fraudsters, popularly known as Yahoo Boys, and each time the boys have any money to clear, all they do is to confidently walk into the branch and collect their money without any fear of being arrested. One of such boys known among his cronies as K Money in Ikorodu, Lagos State told www.theoctopusnews.com that “gone are the days when Yahoo Boys were afraid when collecting their money from any First Bank branch because the branch managers are now street wise and would always collect their percentage from any “Game Boy” and move on to their official banking business. He said the fact is that the tellers are now getting wind of what the managers are doing and are presently getting friendly with these boys and they too have started creating their own contacts in the advance fee fraud setting. Hence, you see teller boys now smiling at any jean and tee shirt donning youngman entering their bank. In fact, some of these teller boys even buy cars from the Yahoo Boys each time they want to change their vehicles.
The mess in First Bank Nig. Plc is alleged to be so bad that customers, who still do business with the bank because of its first generation title, now maintain a red alert condition when transacting their businesses.
When we contacted the bank’s spokes person Folake Ani-Mumuney, her reaction to the story was simple, as she said the allegations are not true.
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