One month after N807,000 allegedly disappeared from the account of a customer of Piggyvest, Oluwafemi Tomori, the fintech company is still yet to resolve the case.
Tomori, a data analyst in Abuja, allegedly received the shock of his life on March 16, when he realised his life savings had disappeared from his Piggyvest account.
Piggyvest, launched in 2016, is the pioneering and leading online savings and investment platform in Nigeria, with about 400,000 users.
Narrating his experience, Tomori said he received a notification from the Gmail app that he transferred N807,000 to another account on March 16.
He said he called Piggyvest to inform them that he did not authorise the withdrawal or made it, and he was told that they would flag the account the money was going into, and as at when he called, the funds was still pending.
Tomori said he was told to relax while they talk to their payment partners to stop the payment and help recover the funds.
He said days went on and Piggyvest didn’t reach out to him, and although he kept pressurising them but he got the same response, that the account had been flagged and funds was still pending.
Tomori said, three days later, he woke up to a mail sent from Piggyvest finance department around 3.a.m informing him that the funds had been utilised but they already placed a lien on the account.
A lien is a claim or legal right against assets that are typically used as collateral to satisfy a debt. A creditor or a legal judgment could establish a lien. A lien serves to guarantee an underlying obligation, such as the repayment of a loan.
“I didn’t understand so I had to call them immediately, they had been ignoring me and are literally not doing anything to get my funds back.
“How did the funds that was pending for days got utilised? Why also did their payment partners go ahead to pay the funds, into the person’s account when they already know its a fraudulent transaction? These are question they are dodging,” he said.
He added that an hour before the shocking mail, he had transferred N200,000 from his account, and the recipient was yet to receive the money at the time he stumbled upon the notification.
He said he immediately called Piggyvest customer care to inform them that an unauthorised transaction had taken place on his account, and the bank gave him a sparkle of hope by telling him the transaction was pending.
“At exactly 12.40.a.m on March 17, I got the alert of the N200,000. So, I called to apprise Piggyvest of the status of the N200,000 while I asked about the N807,000 I didn’t authorise.
“They assured me, just as they did my friend who went to their office in Lagos, that the funds were still pending and they had flagged the account already.”
“That is my entire savings, N807,000. “They have an insider running this, and they seem to be aware, but knowing we have no justice system, they are sure they will get away with this.”
When The Guardian first reached out to Piggyvest on March 26, 2023 for their comments via email, we only got an automated message: “Hello Daniel,Thank you for contacting Piggyvest. This is to confirm receipt of your email. Your email is currently receiving the necessary attention and you’ll receive a response within 24 working hours.
But yesterday, The Guardian reached out to the Fintech company via 0700933933933, and a representative, with the name Tolu said: “This is a third Party account, I am unable to provide information regarding this but the owner can reach out to us.”
