WAEC parades fake website operator

Abiodun

The authorities of the West African Examinations Council on Thursday in Lagos paraded a suspected fraudulent website operator, Mr. Raheem Abiodun, who hacked into the council’s website.

The WAEC Director of Administration, Mr. Stephen Taiwo, who paraded the suspect before journalists, said his arrest took place at Badagry on Wednesday as he tried to withdraw money paid into his account via an ATM.

Twenty-year-old Abiodun, he said, operated a fake website where he allegedly fleeced unsuspecting WAEC candidates of their money.

Speaking on the occasion also, the Council’s Deputy Registrar, Schools Examinations, Mr. Olajide Adebayo, explained that the council noticed the fake website last February on the Internet and had since then been monitoring its activities.

According to him, the suspect alongside his accomplice used the platform to extort the unsuspecting candidates with a promise to providing them with examination solutions.

Such candidates, he said, paid N4, 000 into a First Bank account.

Following proper monitoring, Adebayo said the council alerted the bank and security agencies on the development and arranged to pay some money into the account.

The strategy, he added, worked on Wednesday as Abiodun fell into the trap at Badagry.

 Narrating his mode of operations, the suspect, said he worked in liaison with one Mr. Sola, who is on the run.

The Ede, Osun State-born suspect, who claimed he did not have any knowledge of computers, noted that it was Sola, who operated and provided the examination solution questions for the candidates.

The OND 1 student of Osun State Polytechnic said the unsuspecting candidates paid between N2, 000 and N4, 000 for these WAEC answers, which he remitted to Sola through recharge cards or banking transaction.

Already, the Council has handed over the suspect to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation and prosecution.