The safety of account holders in Unity Bank has been brought to question after an Egyptian identified as Adam Amin revealed that he has been receiving a customer’s transaction details for the past three years.
Unity Bank’s MD, Tomi Somefun
According to Amin, he has been receiving the information including alerts from Unity Bank via his email since 2020.
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He said that despite calling the attention of Unity Bank to the abnormal situation vis-a-vis the potential risk the bank was exposing the account holder to revealing his transaction details to a third party, nothing had been done to correct the development.
Furthermore, he opined that his main concern is the safety of the customer, whose banking data may have been compromised, as it is uncertain if he is the only one receiving the details.
In an extensive message to PREMIUM TIMES, Amin explained that when he first received the mail detailing the customer’s transaction, he thought it was from scammers so he waited for some months before reaching out to the bank in 2021. He also shared copies of emails sent to the bank.
Despite lodging complaints at the bank, he said that he still receives transaction alerts even after blocking Unity Bank’s mail address from his electronic mail account.
“I have engaged with them on WhatsApp several times since 2021, they were very nice and cordial,” he told PREMIUM TIMES.
“They promised to look into it but then I started to receive the emails again and went back to them and they say they will look into it. Then I followed up, a week after and they said it’s still ongoing. At some point, they told me it was done but I was still receiving the alerts.
“I started pressuring them, then they requested I email them and I did, finally they said the issue has been dealt with and then I am still receiving the statement. I messaged again and they stopped responding. I have unsubscribed and blocked them and these alerts still find their way to my mail.”
This is not the first time Unity Bank will be dragged into a data breach saga, as on August 25, 2020, Bank Security, a Twitter handle focused on security threats in banks, reported that the database of Unity Bank was being shared online on hacker forums.
At least three other hacker forums reportedly shared the same database, according to Bank Security.
However, Unity Bank in a tweet assured its customers that it remains committed to safeguarding their details.
“Dear Customers, be vigilant, cyber criminals are always looking for creative ways to commit fraud.
“Do not fall for false data breach claims, unsecured and suspicious scam mails/texts/calls devised to mislead you into disclosing your details.
“Unity Bank places a high priority on the security and safety of our customers. Rest assured your banking information is well protected,” it said.
Meanwhile, concerned individuals have frowned at Unity Bank’s lackadaisical attitude toward protecting its customer.
Akeem Bisiriyu, a businessman who spoke with this platform noted that he would not be able to sleep if he were to be the account holder whose transaction details had been shared with a third party, adding that the size of an account balance is enough for kidnappers to target an individual.
He said he hoped that Amin was the only one receiving the emails, stating that anyone else getting those emails could easily send them to both fraudsters and kidnappers thus putting the account holder at risk.
“The bank’s attitude towards the development is bad, they are putting the account holder in danger. If the man receiving the mail is a bad person, he can be tempted to trace and rob the account holder because of the money in his account .”
On his part, Tope Fasua, an economist noted thus, “The danger is in the issues of loss of privacy on a transaction, apart from the fact that somebody else is seeing his balances, they could use it against him- fraudster piece information together these days, sometimes the banks will redact parts of the account number but the balance is there to see.
“A fraudster is looking for any useful information, the balance is one, also the full name, people who snatch phones these days are not after the phone per se, your phone in the wrong hands can get your BVN, NIN.
“You see the information is complete to get someone and even these days when they cannot take money from your account, they can use your bank details to borrow money from Fintech so it is really dangerous. As the person is getting the alert notification, he also gets important information from the bank to the account holder.”
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the bank, Matthew Obiazikwor, regarding the issue were unsuccessful. Phone calls placed to his numbers were not responded to.
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