By Chris Ndibe
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has described as fraudulent the operations of a fake twitter handle, @YusufPhilipYila, purported to belong to its Director, Development Finance Department, Mr Philip Yila Yusuf.
The apex bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, raised this alert in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Okorafor said fake messages relating to the bank’s N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) have been posted on the twitter handle with the intent of wooing unsuspecting loan seekers and owners of small-scale businesses to enter into correspondence with the owner of the fake handle.
He, therefore, warned unsuspecting members of the public not to have anything to do with the said twitter handle.
“Although the CBN, through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB), has indeed disbursed loans to successful beneficiaries under its COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility, none of the bank’s officials engages in direct interactions with prospective or successful applicants.
“We, therefore, find it embarrassing that Mr Yusuf has continued to be inundated with personal calls relating to messages from the impostor handle.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our Director, Mr Yusuf, does not currently own a twitter handle,’’ he stated.
The director, therefore, enjoined members of the public, particularly households, micro enterprises and owners of small and medium-scale businesses to desist from interacting with the said handle @YusufPhilipYila.
He added that the massages were fake and that anyone, who enters into correspondence with them, does so at his or her own risk.
He advised prospective applicants to approach the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank or CBN branch nearest to them or tweet at @cenbank or @NirsalMFB for clarification on the procedure for accessing the TCF or any of the CBN-related loans.
