Thread by @ChidiOdinkalu

Digital fraud has become a major industry in crime globally with guarantees of anonymity making it very difficult to prevent, detect & redress. Even by the standards of the Ether, some of the manifestations are truly breath-taking. Here's a story that dramatizes the point....

Paul Arisa was born in 1989. He graduated from Federal Government College (FGC) Ohafia in Abia State, #Nigeria, in 2007. He later went to Abia State University where he graduated with a degree in Estate Management. He had a promising future ahead of him.

Smetime in 2011, however, the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) diagnosed Mr. Arisa wth Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a rare form of cancer. He was treated for the ailment there with chemotherapy & appeared initially appeared to make some progress
kelechukwuuzoka.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/sav…

By 2012, the tumour returned with a vengeance & despite concerted medical attention, kept growing. In 2016, Mr. Arisa's family went public with the launch of an appeal fund to help pay the increasing costs for his treatment.
naijagists.com/photos-nigeria…

In May 2018, Paul Arisa tragically lost his prolonged, 7-year long battle with cancer. His family & friends, exhausted from the experience, were entitled to manage their emotions & deal with the grief in peace & quiet.
nairaland.com/3791442/paul-a…

That was until the early hours of today when someone who identified himself as @officialposh666 launched an appeal on Twitter for funds to treat himself for cancer using the exact same pictures of Paul Arisa, who died nearly 1 year ago! This didn't even involve identity theft

In his appeal fund lunch, @officialposh666, who would later be revealed from his bank accounts to be Mr. Odinaka Emma Umeh, asked sympathisers to pay money into named accounts in @myaccessbank who now own Diamond Bank. It looks like funds started pouring in.

Mr. Arisa's school mates were the 1st to notice this & one of them, @KcUzoka blew the whistle on @officialposh666's crime nearly eight hours after it began at 09:52 hrs today. By then, however, quite some money had already been transferred into his account

Following reports by Mr. Arisa's schoolmates & family, it appears the Twitter account that launched this scam - @officialposh666 - has now been suspended or restricted. He shd, however, be unmasked & brought to account. If @myaccessbank did their KYC properly, that shd be easy.

This awful story will not preclude many more ppl from falling victim to the next digital scammer wielding a story meant for the heart strings. Those who fall victim without due diligence have themselves to blame. Meanwhile, @PoliceNG & @myaccessbank have a duty to unmask this man