Suspected fraudsters have reportedly cloned the telephone number of the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Delta State, Kingsley Esiso.
The suspects were said to have sent messages to aspirants on the party platform, requesting huge sums of money to help them secure the party’s tickets.
The Executive Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Communications, Fred Latimore, in a statement on Tuesday, quoted the party chairman as appealing to aspirants not to part with their hard-earned money “as Yahoo fraudsters capitalise on the ongoing electioneering contests to defraud desperate politicians in the state.”
Latimore said, “The PDP Delta State chairman affirmed that the unscrupulous criminal elements cloned his mobile phone number with which they sent messages to PDP aspirants requesting huge sums of money to be favoured with the party’s tickets at the primaries scheduled to hold from May 7, 2022. “The Delta PDP chairman stated that the fraudsters’ phone number is 0703 503 6524, but when checked via True Caller app, Esiso’s name would surface as the registered owner of the phone number.”
The chairman was quoted to have said, “It is true that my phone number has been cloned by some hardened criminals. The gang’s phone number is 0703 503 6524, which they linked to my identity when checked via the True Caller app. “Several messages were received by some chieftains of our party, especially aspirants, demanding huge sums of money as kickbacks, so as to be favoured with party tickets. “We are working with law enforcement agents to apprehend the criminals. Anyone caught shall be prosecuted and made to pay for his or her crimes to serve as a deterrent to others.”