Recently I had problems transferring money out of my first bank account. I tried the mobile app without success, so I switched to Quickteller, yet no show.

Unknown to me, my account was restricted due to an update issue.

Because I was desperate I started reaching out to my bank and Quickteller on social media channels.

Unfortunately I fell for an account that looked genuine enough, it was packaged and presented as the official Facebook account of first bank with the logo and other paraphernalia.

Long story short, I contacted them and they responded promptly and requested for my bank details. Luckily I had the presence of mind to give them only the account name and refused to give my account number. They kept persuading me for full disclosure which kinda made me more suspicious. In the end I decided to discontinue chatting with them.

Fast forward to today I just found out Facebook changed the account status from business to individual, and all the bank information previously associated with it had been removed. . In fact, there’s no display image on the account.

On inquiry I was told it was a phoney business account operated by a fraudster and not First Bank.

I was lucky not to fall for their antics, someone else may not be so lucky unless I share this - and that’s exactly why I’m sharing it to put everyone on alert.
Please be careful with resolving issues via social channels. Verify that the account you’re communicating with is the real and official account of your financial institution before divulging sensitive information.

I hope this saves someone a tear or two...happy new year.

PS: The screenshot shows the faceless and “logoless” account now showing “Facebook User” instead of First Bank that was there before.
More so, at the bottom of the page is a notification that I can no longer reply to the conversation.

Mods kindly move to FP to save souls.