The Akwa Ibom state government confirmed on Thursday, August 15, that suspected fraudsters hacked the WhatsApp number of Governor Umo Eno.
Governor Eno, who is also a pastor and founder of the All Nations Christian Ministry International, is currently on an official working visit in the United States and is expected to return next week.
The hackers reportedly used the compromised WhatsApp number to solicit money from the governor's contacts, asking them to transfer specific amounts to a designated account with promises of reimbursement later.
In one instance, the impostors requested a close ally of the governor to send N7 million on the governor's behalf, promising to repay the sum later.
It was gathered that the governor's ally became suspicious when the hackers instructed that the money be transferred to a particular account, leading him to alert key government officials who advised against making the payment.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ekerete Udoh, confirmed in a statement that the governor's WhatsApp number had been "cloned" by criminals attempting to defraud unsuspecting individuals.
He added that a formal complaint has been filed with law enforcement agencies regarding the incident.
"Our attention has been drawn to carefully orchestrate fraudulent posts on some social media platforms, where some criminal elements have cloned the WhatsApp number of His Excellency, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, with an intent to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
“We hereby warn that any message appearing to solicit funds by these imposters should be ignored by the general public as they do not emanate from the governor," the statement said.
Recall that last month, hackers tampered with the WhatsApp phone numbers of Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, similarly using the compromised accounts to request various sums of money from his contacts.
Earlier in February, a phone number linked to Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, was also compromised, with the cybercriminals demanding money from those in his contact list.
