First Bank of Nigeria has warned its customers against a growing fraud scheme involving fake pop-up messages designed to steal banking credentials and facilitate unauthorised transactions.
The bank, in a security advisory to customers, said malicious applications installed on mobile devices could generate deceptive floating messages that appear to be legitimate banking alerts.
According to the bank, one of the fraudulent messages reads: “Account abnormal: To ensure the safety of your funds, please log in immediately to check your account and complete a small transaction to mitigate the risk, or change your transaction password.”
FirstBank described the message as a trap, stressing that it would never ask customers to make a “small transaction” or test transfer as a means of verifying an account or protecting funds.
The bank explained that the objective of the scammers was to trick victims into entering their login credentials, transaction PINs and other sensitive banking information, potentially giving fraudsters unauthorised access to their accounts.
FirstBank advised customers who encounter such pop-ups not to click “OK” or enter any password or other confidential information. Instead, they should immediately close the pop-up without interacting with it.
The bank also advised affected customers to disconnect their devices from mobile data and Wi-Fi to cut off possible communication between malicious applications and attackers.
Customers were urged to inspect applications installed on their devices by navigating to Settings → Apps → Special App Access → Display Over Other Apps and revoking access granted to unknown or suspicious applications.
They were further advised to check Settings → Accessibility → Installed Services and disable unfamiliar background tools.
FirstBank recommended restarting affected devices in Safe Mode and removing recently installed, rogue or unfamiliar applications.
The bank also advised customers to secure their accounts using a separate and trusted device by logging into the official FirstBank digital banking platform and changing their passwords and PINs.
It urged customers who suspect unauthorised activity on their accounts to contact the bank immediately.
“FirstBank will never ask you to make a transaction, transfer funds, share your PIN, password, OTP, or banking credentials to secure your account,” the bank said.
The bank further warned customers against disclosing online banking passwords, token responses, card numbers or ATM PINs to anyone, noting that such confidential details would never be requested by the bank.
For emergencies, customers can use *894*911# to block their accounts, while suspicious calls can be reported through 07080625000 or 014485500, or via abuse@firstbanknigeria.com.
Customers can also contact FirstBank through 02012278000, 07080625000, firstcontactcomplaints@firstbankgroup.com and complaints@firstbankgroup.com.
The bank urged customers to keep their records up to date at its branches and remain vigilant against emerging fraud techniques.
“Scammers no dey rest! Don’t fall victim to their schemes. Remember to stay steps ahead of their tricks,” FirstBank cautioned.