The Nigerian Army has warned the public about the rising number of impostors posing as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, on various social media platforms.
In a statement released on Saturday by the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Army disclosed that the imposters had been using the official portrait of the COAS as profile pictures to deceive unsuspecting individuals.
“This is not the first time imposters have attempted to impersonate the COAS on social media platforms. However, a new trend has emerged where these fraudsters set up online meetings on Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, and other platforms, demanding that participants share specific numbers displayed on their screens. They then engage individually with the participants and subsequently defraud them,” he said.
The army authorities urged the public to exercise caution and verify any engagement with individuals claiming to be the COAS before providing any personal information or financial details.
The military command further advised Nigerians to report any suspicious accounts or activities to security agencies to prevent further fraudulent activities.
The statement read, “So far, the Nigerian Army has identified the following numbers as being frequently used by the fraudsters: 09033949238, 09075323836, 09074272745, 08169257155, 08064561495, 08054138812, 09161521558, 09026515718, 09020898622, 08131333263, 09077188584, 08084529752, 08147409236, 09136497898, 09024627712, 07010119398, 09138997224, 09061549129, 08163593764, 07035272009, 09018150412, 08093524443 and 08088120581.
“While the Nigerian Army, like other sister services of the Armed Forces have peculiar ways of communication known to all officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army, members of the general public must be wary of the danger posed by these imposters and are therefore urged to refrain from engaging in any online meeting organised on social media platforms especially using the official portrait of the COAS as the display picture.”
According to Onyema, “Members of the general public are enjoined to report such mobile phone numbers used to fix such online or virtual meetings through the Nigerian Army toll-free call centre number 193 for appropriate follow-up actions.
“The Nigerian Army entreats personnel and non personnel alike to be circumspect in engaging in any social media online, virtual meeting, or call, as official means of communication with the Nigerian Army hierarchy.
“Established protocols and procedures should be relied on while being vigilant against the wiles of scammers,” Onyema added.
