Nigerian fintech, Flutterwave has moved to reach over 6,000 account holders across 35 banks and financial institutions in an attempt to retrieve ₦19 billion (*$24 million) that POS merchants fraudulently moved following a High Court decision on February 1.
This is coming less than a year after reports suggested that the company was hacked through unauthorized transfers.
However, as of 2023, Flutterwave refuted claims that over N2 billion had been taken out of the business’ account.
The statement was in contrast to Techpoint’s report that claimed hackers stole ₦2,949,557,867 through unauthorized transfers from the accounts of the African fintech startup.
Reports claimed that the company received an order to release many clients’ accounts across multiple banks as a result of the alleged breach. It was claimed that more than 300 clients were impacted.
The company did not, however, report any breach activities then.
But, “In 2023, we discovered that certain POS device merchants abused their access by conducting unauthorized transactions. In response to this, we temporarily suspended the accounts where funds were improperly transferred,” Flutterwave said in a statement to TechCabal.
The company, however, maintained that no customers’ money was misplaced.
Flutterwave added, “We continue to actively engage with the relevant authorities to investigate and address the situation.”
The directive, which was issued on February 1, 2024, mandated 35 financial institutions—Opay, Paga, Palmpay, Access Bank, VFD Bank, Zenith, Polaris, and Providus Bank—share the account users’ phone numbers and email addresses.
Flutterwave would get in touch with the more than 6,000 account users via their respective email addresses, SMS, and WhatsApp messages to their respective telephone numbers, TechCabal added.
