The Lagos state police command has arrested five members of a syndicate, who specialize in using people’s telephone SIM cards to steal money from their accounts.

The suspects comprising of a female and male are; Daniel Asigbe (m), 25; Ikechukwu Aigbe (m), 25; Frank Opara (m), 21, Seun Dairo (m), 19 and Goodness Ndukwe (f), 19.

According to the Zonal Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Hauwa Idris, the gang, through the SIM card, would be able to decode the victim’s Bank Verification Number ( BVN ) which would enable them to hack into peoples accounts.

“It all started on June 20, when Daniel Asigbe, stole a Samsung X9 from a barber’s shop in Lekki. The said Asigbe removed the SIM card and gave it to Ikechukwu who fraudulently got the owner’s BVN and sent the same to one Yele who is currently at large.

Yele later generated and gave Ikechukwu the account owner’s transfer pin. Ikechukwu, then, transferred N2,300,000 from the account to the third accomplice, Seun Dairo’s account.

He also purchased N20,000 worth of airtime from the account. Meanwhile, Seun had given his ATM card to one Frank Opara, apparently for another deal,” she said.

However, she enjoined the public to quickly draw necessary attentions in case of loss of mobile phones or other valuables.