By Attah Ede
A suspected internet fraudster popularly known as a “Yahoo boy” was, on Wednesday, morning found hiding inside the ceiling of a First City Monument Bank (FCMB) branch in the Secretariat area of Lagos, Lagos State.
Our correspondent gathered that the suspect allegedly broke into the bank’s system in a failed overnight hacking operation.
As at the time of filing this report, the affected bank is yet to give out identity of the suspect.
It was further learnt that the suspect gained entrance into the FCMB branch yesterday during regular business hours, posing as a normal customer.
Surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts confirmed that he walked into the banking hall without raising suspicion and made his way to the customer restroom.
While there, he locked the door from the inside and started planning his move carefully, climbing through the ceiling.
He positioned himself above the bank’s main office section and waited for everyone to depart the banking office.
However, when staff resumed work this morning (Wednesday), they realized that the office door was bolted from inside.
“Multiple knocks yielded no response, prompting the security men to force the door open. What they found inside shocked everyone present: office furniture had been tampered with, several system units had been moved or disconnected, and one staff computer had a strange prompt on its screen that read: “Restarting… Click OK to accept.”
Discovering that a serious security breach might have happened, the bank’s internal security team quickly swept the premises and found clear evidence that someone had used the ceiling space to gain illegal access.
” As they traced the movement, the alleged suspect was discovered hiding behind a server cabinet, exhausted, confused, and reportedly pleading for mercy.
“Shortly after his discovery, videos began surfacing online showing the young man surrounded by security operatives. In one clip, he’s seen confessing to acting alone, begging not to be harmed, and admitting that he had hidden inside the bank overnight to try and gain access to sensitive systems.
“Nobody could believe it. The fact that he came in during working hours, hid in the ceiling, and planned to hack the bank — it felt like something from a movie”, eyewitness said
A senior bank staff member, who spoke condition of anonymity, said the bank’s IT department had already begun conducting an emergency audit of its internal systems to determine the extent of attempted tampering or data breach.
“Right now, we are trying to assess the impact, if any,” the staff member said. “It appears he didn’t get very far. But still, this is a very serious incident.”
The suspect was later handed over to local authorities and is now being held at a nearby police station for further investigation.
According to sources within law enforcement, preliminary interrogation suggests the young man may have been working with outside collaborators who possibly monitored him from a remote location.
As at the time of filing this report there is no official statement from the police authority yet.
