Fraudsters have seized control of Umo Eno’s WhatsApp account, the governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Akwa Ibom state, and are using it to solicit money from his contacts.
Akwa Ibom, situated in southern Nigeria, is the country’s third-wealthiest state, with an annual gross domestic product of $19 billion (£15 billion).
Eno, who assumed office last year, is also a pastor and founder of the All Nations Christian Ministry International.
On Tuesday, many of the governor’s contacts received messages from his WhatsApp number, requesting transfers of specific amounts of money to an account with a promise of repayment later.
Ekerete Udoh, the governor’s chief press secretary, confirmed that the account had been “cloned” by criminals aiming to defraud unsuspecting individuals. Law enforcement agencies have been notified of the incident.
“We hereby warn that any message appearing to solicit funds by these imposters should be totally discountenanced by the general public as they do not emanate from the Governor,” the statement read.
Less than a month ago, a phone number associated with Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun state and uncle of Afrobeats star Davido, was similarly compromised.
Cybersecurity expert Bilal Abdullahi recommended that governors enhance the security of their phone numbers and WhatsApp accounts to prevent such incidents.
“WhatsApp enables additional security layers whereby one can link the app to his email for authorisation before use and also there‘s what we call App Lock whereby one can lock the application and can only use it if he inserts a pin or passcode,” he told the BBC.
Despite a significant crackdown in recent years, with the EFCC arresting thousands, cyber fraud, commonly known as “Yahoo-Yahoo,” continues to be a major issue in Nigeria.
Uche Ifeanyi Henry, director of Nigeria’s National Cyber Crime Centre (NCCC), recently informed the BBC that the government has invested millions of pounds in a state-of-the-art cyber-crime center to demonstrate its commitment to combating cyber crime.