The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, recently shared a disconcerting experience involving his ATM card during a hotel check-in abroad. This incident highlighted the stigma Nigerian financial instruments face due to the country's association with cybercrime.
During a recent trip to South Asia for a Financial Action Task Force meeting, Olukoyede encountered a significant difference in how his Nigerian ATM card was handled compared to that of a preceding guest, who was a white man. Despite both guests making payments, the hotel staff singled out Olukoyede's card for additional scrutiny.
Olukoyede explained that after successfully swiping his card for the accommodation payment, the hotel staff took extra steps by making a photocopy of both the front and back of his card. This action, he noted, was not applied to the white man who had just completed his transaction.
The hotel staff justified their actions by stating that there was a standing instruction to treat Nigerian cards with suspicion due to frequent fraud cases. This additional scrutiny persisted even after Olukoyede identified himself as the Chairman of Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Agency.
According to him, "It is important for us to understand the kind of menace that cybercrime is causing Nigeria. I traveled about two weeks ago and was in a country in South Asia. I attended a Financial Action Task Force meeting and wanted to pay for my accommodation. The man in front of me, a white man, used his card and made the payment. When it was my turn, I gave them my card. They swiped it, deducted the money, and then the lady stood up and went to another office to make a photocopy of my card, both front and back. I asked her, 'Why are you making a photocopy of my card? You are exposing me to fraud!'. I told her, 'You didn't do this to the other man who just left.' She replied, 'Yes, sir, it is because this is a Nigerian card.' She said they have a standing instruction that anytime they see a Nigerian card, they must suspect it. So, they have to make a photocopy to be sure that I am actually the owner of the card. And she knew who I was, the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency in Nigeria. You can see the shame and embarrassment."
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