Commercial banks have released more names of forex defaulters in compliance with the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBn) to publish the names of individuals looking to trick the system. (Forex Scam )
The gathered from the website of 10 commercial banks shows that as of Friday, 18th 2022 there are over 1,226 names published with UBA having the highest number.
On its website, Zenith Bank listed 990 FX offenders, while Polaris Bank and Sterling Bank listed 40 and 53, respectively.
Access Bank on its website has 29, Fidelity Bank is also reporting 83, First City Monument Bank had eight, Stanbic IBTC Bank 15, Standard Charted Bank had four, United Bank for Africa had three, and Wema bank has so far published just one name.
Polaris Bank on its website noted that the 54 customers cancelled their trip and failed to refund the Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) sold to them despite follow-ups with them.
Sterling Bank also revealed that its customers cancelled their trip (Forex Scam) but failed to return the PTA availed to them despite reaching out to them with phone calls and messages.
The bank also showed that six of its customers presented fake visas or documents to apply for PTA.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in July instructed Deposit Money Banks (DMB) to publish names and Bank Verification Numbers(BVN) of customers who violated the rules.
How important is my BVN?
BVN was introduced as a centralized banking system built using customer biometrics to help reduce, mitigate, and trace cases of fraud, unauthorized access, and breach of security. It is very important because:
It gives you a unique identity that can be verified across the whole Nigerian Banking System (every bank in Nigeria recognizes it)
Your BVN protects your bank accounts from unauthorized access.
It reduces cases of fraudulent activities on bank accounts
With your BVN, you get easy access to executing banking operations
How many people have BVN in Nigeria?
According to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NBISS), over 40 million active bank accounts are currently linked with BVN. It is hard to conclude whether this translates to 40 million people having BVN in Nigeria.
How to block your bank account?
In emergency cases, or maybe you just want to change your bank, you may need to block your existing bank account. There are various banks in Nigeria, and each one of them has different ways through which their customers may block their existing bank accounts. Some will require you to call or text a number while using USSD codes for others. Either way, you can block your bank account no matter the bank. Here’s how:
For GTBank – *737*51*10#
For FCMB Bank – call + 2342798800
For First Bank – text “BLOCK” to 30012
For Union Bank – text “BLOCK CARD NUBAN” to 20123
For UBA – dial *919*10#
Fidelity Bank dial *770911#
Zenith Bankdial *966*911#
Keystone Bank call 23470020003000
Sterling Bank call 070078378464
IBTC Bank dial *909#. Afterward, select my bank and select service request, and then select block card.
Wema Bank call 08039003700
Polaris call +2341270850
For Access Bank, dial *901*911#
Remember that you have to do this using the mobile number linked to the bank account in question.