African financial technology company, Flutterwave, has lost #2,949,557,867 via illegal transfers to large numbers of beneficiaries after unidentified hackers attacked its platform.
It was gathered that the men of the dark world executed this illegal activity on the fintech company early this year.
According to Techpoint Africa, the fintech company is seeking to freeze personal accounts in 27 Nigerian banks and wallets, where the funds were transferred after its audit discovered the development from its record.
Albert Onimole, the tech attorney reported the case to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba.
In a statement issued by the tech counsel, the hack on Flutterwave’s accounts came up about some weeks ago, indicating that the said sum was initially transferred to 28 accounts in 63 transactions.
Although the accounts that received the money were listed, the police are yet to freeze the receiving accounts to prevent the money from being moved.
But, Flutterwave said that some commercial banks allowed the money to be moved to other accounts, widening the money trail.
To investigate the accounts holding the stolen funds across various financial institutions in Nigeria, S.A. Adedesin, Legal Officer, State CID, Panti, Yaba, filed a suit in the Magistrate Court of Lagos to support Flutterwave’s claims.
The suit is between the Commissioner of Police and the affected 28 commercial banks. While there are no documents to confirm if the court has ruled in favor of Inspector Micheal’s motion, some people have confirmed that their accounts have been frozen in connection to the hack.
Per the motion filed by Adebesin, 107 accounts, including the fifth beneficiaries of those accounts, are to be placed on lien/Post-No-Debit (PND). With the stolen funds distributed across several accounts, which, according to tweets, may or may not have anything to do with the hack, it is not clear at this time who hacked Flutterwave.
Questions about how hackers got past Flutterwave’s security and what this means for the fintech customers remain unanswered. As of press time, Flutterwave hasn’t responded to emails seeking clarifications.
