A lady, Hafsat Abubakar, who made a false post on her X handle that a fintech company, Opay, has shut down its operation, has been arrested by men of the Nigeria Police.
The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) said on Thursday that it traced the circulation of the false notice purporting to be an official communication from Opay, leading to the arrest of Hafsat Abubakar and the recovery of three mobile phones.
The post by the lady was designed to appear as an official corporate notice, bearing OPay’s logo, corporate branding, company name and a purported management signature and endorsement.
It falsely suggested that the company was shutting down its operations which was capable of misleading members of the public and causing unnecessary concern among customers.
Following the circulation of the false notice and the complaint lodgd by Opay, operatives of the NPF-NCCC commenced digital forensic analysis and online tracing to establish its source and identify those responsible for its dissemination.
The investigation traced the notice to the X handle, @HAIFAH_ER_ABBA, linked to Hafsat Abubakar, who was subsequently arrested by the operatives on September 4.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect published the notice on her X handle and subsequently shared it through another X handle, @CUTE_HAFSERH, where she tagged social-media influencers and accompanied the post with the caption, ‘REMOVE YOUR MONEY NOW.’
“She stated that she obtained the notice from a WhatsApp status. The publication reportedly recorded approximately 572,000 views within minutes of being posted,” the statement by the Nigeria Police disclosed.
At the point of her arrest, three Apple mobile phones were recovered from her while investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the creation and dissemination of the false notice and to identify any other persons who may have been involved.
She is expected to be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigation.
