An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness,
John Effiong Etim, on Friday revealed how Point of Sale (PoS) scammers operate.
He testified against a PoS fraud suspect, Austin Christopher
Essiet.
Essiet is standing trial before Justice Agatha Okeke of the
Federal High Court Sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for allegedly stealing
N150,000.
Etim, a PoS agent, told prosecuting counsel, Agbo Abuh, that
the defendant made fraudulent withdrawals on two occasions through cardless
transfer which resulted in freeze of his account.
He recalled that the transactions made the bank compel him
to refund the victims before the restriction was lifted.
Etim narrated that Essiet was at his shop on August 10, 2020
and requested N150,000.
“In cardless withdrawals, the person will have to come with
account number and SIM card will be used to receive alerts. The withdrawal
limit is N50,000, so I repeated thrice and gave him N150,000 cash. He gave me
N2,000 as service charge.
“The accused left and came back on August 18, 2020, to carry
out same transaction with different account numbers. I suspected fraud and
secretly took his pictures because it is an android PoS with camera.”
The witness said he continued transacting business that day
till the next day when he could no longer make withdrawals from his account.
Etim visited his bank on Aka Road, Uyo, and met with his
account officer who told him that unauthorized transactions were made with his
PoS machine.
“My shop was closed for over a week because all the money I
had was in that account. I called a friend that works with EFCC, he asked me
some questions. I went back to my bank and filled a form. The said amount was
forfeited and my account was reopened.”
The witness said he continued business and two months later,
Essiet returned to his shop and with the help of neighbours, he was nabbed and
handed over to the EFCC.
Abur showed the witness the petition he sent to the
commission, dated October 20, 2020, which he identified.
The petition was admitted in evidence and marked exhibit P1A
to D.
The matter was adjourned until December 8, 2020, for
continuation of trial.
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