Police have arrested one Ayoola Olalekan, a suspected Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) hacker, in Osun.
Olalekan, 27, spoke to reporters, saying he dropped out of secondary school, before going into crime.
Why did you take to hacking people’s bank accounts?
At a point I went to learn an aluminum job but left it to start this ‘wire-wire job’ which was paying me well.
Who taught you the job?
I was introduced to the job in Mushin, Lagos. My master is now in Dubai.
Why were you arrested with an armed robbery gang?
There was a boy called Samuel, I didn’t know that he robbed. He called me one day that there was a phone, an iPhone 6X, and that I should hack the SIM card and transfer the money in the account of the owner. I went to meet him at Toll Gate Ibadan. I checked the phone but could not find any contact and Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the victim. I logged into the iCloud account, I could not find any clue to hack the bank account until I logged into the email address of the phone owner where I saw the BVN of the owner. I inputted the BVN in my hacking software and saw the person’s name, date of birth and address. I registered the account and started transferring the money from his bank accounts.
Why was it difficult for police to track you?
I don’t make mistakes. When I get an alert SIM that I need to withdraw money from, I open another fictitious account using the BVN of my previous victim. Then I transfer money into the account for withdrawal. Anytime police want to arrest me they arrest the owner of the BVN of my previous victim.
I go to pastors, Alfas to pray. I go to mosques and churches to pray for God’s mercy before I start hacking into my victim’s bank account and withdraw their money.

By Toba Adedeji