Fraudsters ‘hack’ WhatsApp phone number of Akwa Ibom governor
The WhatsApp number of Umo Eno, governor of Akwa Ibom, has been hacked by fraudsters.
On Tuesday, some contact addresses of Eno received messages from the governor’s WhatsApp number, requesting that a certain amount of money be sent to an account and with a promise that it would be refunded later.
However, in a statement, Ekerete Udoh, the chief press secretary (CPS) to Eno, said the WhatsApp phone number of the governor was “cloned” by criminal elements to defraud unsuspecting persons.
Udoh said law enforcement agencies have been alerted over the development.
“Our attention has been drawn to carefully orchestrated 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,” the statement reads.
“We hereby warn that any message appearing to solicit funds by these imposters should be totally discountenanced by the general public as they do not emanate from the Governor.
“The law enforcement agents have been duly alerted and are on the trail of the perpetrators of this ignoble act.”
In July, one of the phone numbers of Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, was hacked.