By Wisdom Patrick, Lagos

The leadership of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Friday alerted the public of the existence of a syndicate, who are busy circulating fake auction papers with the intention of swindling unsuspecting Nigerians.

A top Customs official who disclosed this to Political Economist in a chat, added that already many gullible Nigerians have unknowingly fallen victims to the pranks of the conmen.

He disclosed further that, fraudsters, currently at large had hacked into the operational website of the NCS and obtained vital information about NCS auctions and list of seized containers and contrabands.

“They now went ahead to print our embossed allocation certificates in which they used to defraud innocent persons of several millions of Naira. But we have been able to block the site and also flagged it.”

He said though some of the fake documents were already in the hands of innocent Nigerians, “we want to use this channel to let the public know that there is nothing like full container containing various brand of vehicles to be auctioned be NCS at both Tin-Can and Apapa ports.

“These are criminals at work, we would therefore appeal that members of the public be careful and very mindful of the elements, to avoid falling victim.”

The Customs chief said the service has established a liaison with the Police at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos to go after members of the syndicate and apprehend them as soon as possible.”

He stated further that every Nigerian has the right to visit any Customs formation across the country and obtain information on whatsoever Customs related business, “he/she wishes to transact to avoid being a victim of these conmen,” he stated.