An 80-year-old pensioner, Mr. Dongtoe Raymond Sambo, has alleged that N2,379,984.88 was fraudulently withdrawn from his Union Bank account after an ATM retained his debit card during a transaction in Jos, Plateau State.
His son, Leon Smith Dongtoe, a Plateau-based civil servant, told the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) that the unauthorised withdrawals occurred on March 21, shortly after the card was trapped at a Union Bank ATM. He accused the bank of negligence, administrative silence, and failing to investigate the incident or recover the stolen funds.
According to Dongtoe, the incident began after unsuccessful attempts to use the card at a filling station and several ATMs before they visited a Union Bank ATM on Bank Road, Jos North, where the machine retained the card and displayed a “Card Retained” message.
He said security personnel at the branch assured them the card would be retrieved on the next working day, prompting them to return home.
However, shortly after leaving the bank, Dongtoe said his father’s phone began receiving multiple debit alerts as fraudsters allegedly emptied the pensioner’s account through a series of unauthorised transactions.
“We tried everything to stop the transactions,” Dongtoe said. “We attempted to block the card using Union Bank’s USSD service, but it didn’t work. Calls to customer care were unsuccessful, and we also submitted an emergency complaint through the bank’s website while the withdrawals were still ongoing.”
He claimed the bank failed to stop the transactions, resulting in the loss of N2,379,984.88.
When they visited the Union Bank branch the following Monday, Dongtoe alleged that officials suggested the incident may have involved a card swap but declined requests to inspect the retained card or provide the ATM’s audit logs.
He further claimed the bank was initially reluctant to receive his father’s written complaint and has since failed to provide a formal response or a detailed investigation into the incident.
The family also accused the bank of failing to comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s consumer protection regulations by not detecting the suspicious transactions, failing to issue a dispute reference number, and not initiating measures to freeze the stolen funds.
Dongtoe said his father has petitioned several agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the Plateau State Public Complaints Commission, and the Plateau State Police Command.
According to him, despite the petitions, the funds have yet to be recovered, leaving the elderly pensioner under significant emotional and financial strain.
Source: Fij
