Decentralised international “Hactivist” Group, Anonymous has cautioned Nigerians against publicly sharing bank account details across social media to request financial aid.
The hacker group that has since lent its weight to the ongoing #EndSARS protests told Nigerians to abstain from doing this due to financial security reasons, citing that hackers could divert money from these accounts.
Anon also insisted that Nigerians focus on getting justice in the #EndSARS campaign against police brutality instead of asking for money.
Suggested read: #EndSARS: Did Anonymous Really Hack DStv/GOtv System?
Prior to the restart of the #EndSARS campaign, many Nigerians had usually disclosed account details especially on Twitter to claim “give aways”.
Following Anonymous’ alleged hack of banks in the country amid the ongoing #EndSARS campaign, a number of people have put up their account information asking the hacker group to transfer funds to them.
This was perhaps prompted by unconfirmed reports from social media which claimed that Anon had hacked Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and distributed N5,000 each to some customers.
Another instigating reason was the claim by many parody Anonymous handles on Twitter promising to share money from banks to Nigerians.
Did Anon Hack GTBank?
Some social media users have claimed that Anonymous reportedly credited GTB current account users after compromising the bank’s system.
Suggested read: Anonymous Claims to Hack FG Websites as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Endorsed #EndSARS Protests
Adesewa on Twitter mentioned that Anon had taken over GTB accounts and disbursed N5,000 to customers.
A number of other people started circulating the unverified claims regarding the supposed sharing of GTB funds by Anon to customers.
One person even asked, “So anonymous did it again. 5k to Gtb current account. How about savings account?”
Going by several posts on twitter, it appears that the alleged GTB hack claims were created by people based on the misleading posts by parody Anonymous accounts. There has been no evidence whatsoever to back up these claims as many people simply jumped on the trend without any confirmation.
However, Tobi on twitter alleged that private bank accounts were the ones being hacked and stated that some people he knew had their accounts compromised. Although his claim is unproven, it consolidates Anon’s warning to Nigerians against the public disclosure of bank account details.
While there are conflicting reports across social media, GTB has yet to give an official announcement on the alleged Anonymous Hack. For now, the alleged hack appears to be nothing but a social media hoax.
N1,000 Airtel Recharge Controversy
Telco giant, Airtel reportedly gave out a N1,000 airtime to subscribers yesterday amid the #EndSARS campaign.
Although there is proof to show that subscribers were actually credited with N1,000, there are contrasting reports as to the veracity of how it came about. Some people have said Airtel was hacked by Anon while others opined that the telco gave it out freely to gain customer loyalty during this time.
Many subscribers have gone on to use the airtime but Asiwaju on twitter stated that he has not used the recharge as he suspects it could potentially compromise the safety of his bank account.
According to Nairametrics, a source at Airtel has revealed that the telco did not give out free N1,000 airtime to subscribers. PUNCH, however, stated that Airtel gave out the recharge as a compensation for recent service disruptions after forwarding apology texts to customers.
As at the time of this writing, Airtel Nigeria is yet to issue an official statement in response to these claims.
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