Fraudsters fake 50 billion eNaira wallet on Twitter Handle, CBN raises Alarm

By Dele Ojo

Few days into the introduction of the Nigerian digital currency, eNaira to broaden the Cash-less economy policy of the federal government, men of the underworld have moved swiftly to beguile the unsuspecting populace into subscribing to their fake eNaira created on the social media. The alarm was raised Wednesday by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In a disclaimer by the Apex Bank’s Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, the Bank started that “Following the formal launch of the eNaira on Monday, October 25, 2021, the attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to criminal and illegal activities of some individuals and a fraudulent twitter handle, @enaira_cbdc purported to belong to the Bank”

The impostor handle and fraudulent persons, Osita stressed,  have been posting messages related to the eNaira with the intent of wooing unsuspecting Nigerians with claims that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), among other falsities, is disbursing the sum of 50 Billion eNaira currency.

According to him, the impostors are bent on defrauding innocent and unsuspecting members of the public through the links attached to their messages for application to obtain eNaira wallets and become beneficiaries of the said 50 billion eNaira currency.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Central of Nigeria (CBN) is not the owner of that twitter handle (@enaira_cbdc) and indeed suspended its presence on Twitter following the Federal Government’s Ban. In effect, the Bank is not disbursing eNaira currency to citizens. To this end, members of the public are hereby warned to be wary of fraudsters who have resolved to take advantage of unsuspecting Nigerians” Osita stated.

To him, members of the public should always endeavor to seek clarifications on information about the eNaira either by visiting the eNaira website: www.enaira.gov.ng or calling the eNaira contact centre on 080069362472 or visiting any CBN Branch nearest to them. For clarity, the current official social media handles of the eNaira are: www.facebook.com/myenaira; www.instagram.com/myenaira and www.youtube.com/myenaira, while any suspicious activity by members of the public should be reported to the CBN using [email protected] or to relevant law enforcement agencies.

Please be guided accordingly.

In the guidelines released for clarification on the innovation, the Apex Bank explained that the eNaira shall be administered by the CBN through the Digital Currency Management System (DCMS) to mint and issue eNaira, while  Financial institutions shall maintain a treasury eNaira wallet for holding and managing eNaira on the DCMS.

It noted that CBN shall exclusively perform the following roles:

  1. Mint, issue, distribute, redeem and destroy the eNaira;
  2. Determine the technical, regulatory and operational standards for the eNaira;
  3. Manage unresolved eNaira issues and complaints escalated from the FIs and disputes arising between FIs;
  4. Monitor compliance with applicable regulations; and
  5. Issue directives and review Guidelines on eNaira periodically as may be required

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