Nigeria Fintech Flutterwave Denies Client Account Hacking Reports

Nigerian fintech firm Flutterwave has denied reports that hackers stole as much as $6.3 million from user accounts. The fintech company said that regular checks of its transaction monitoring system allowed it to spot “unusual trends in transactions in some users’ profiles.”

Motion to Freeze

Nigerian fintech unicorn Flutterwave said reports that hackers stole about $6.3 million from customer accounts were untrue; in astatementreleased March 5, the fintech said no users lost funds and claimed that the corrective actions actually “addressed the problem before users were harmed.”

Flutterwave’s statement denying the hack follows a Techpoint reportthat claims as much as $6.3 million (2.9 billion naira) was siphoned from users’ accounts. According to the report, the hacking incident is believed to have occurred in early February, and Flutterwave responded by filing a motion to freeze the accounts of as many as 27 financial institutions.

The statement suggests that Flutterwave is “working with other financial institutions and law enforcement to keep our ecosystem safe and secure,” while the fintech company claims it only took action after detecting anomalies in some users’ accounts.

“During a routine check of our transaction monitoring system, we identified some unusual trends of transactions in some users’ profiles. As a result, we discovered that some users who did not have some of our recommended security settings enabled may have been affected,” the fintech company explained.

Flutterwave adds that by being proactive, it was able to address the issue “before users were harmed.”

Meanwhile, on Twitter, some users have denied Flutterwave’s account, claiming that the hacking incident is true; one user known as Alex Onyiaclaims that Flutterwave was hacked by Omar Edewor Trades and that millions of naira were stolen from customer accounts. Another user, Ufedo, shared “proof” that the hacking incident had occurred.

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Image Credit:: Shutterstock, Pi

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