Patricia reportedly begins customer repayment plan after 2023 cyber attack

Nigerian crypto trading platform Patricia Technologies has reportedly commenced repaying user funds following an attack on its platform. The development is another step in the right direction to restore customer faith following the platform’s security breach in 2022. In the breach, the platform lost over 600 million naira in user funds to the bad actors.

According to reports, Patricia requested a window of about two to five years to enable it to generate income from operations.

In addition, the platform is still coordinating efforts with law enforcement to recoup some of the stolen funds. After the breach, the platform paused operations, halting withdrawals to file a petition with the police regarding the theft on the platform.

Reimbursement efforts announced via CEO’s social media   

The announcement of a repayment plan on the private account of Patricia’s CEO and founder, Hanu Fejiro Agbodje, may be an attempt to demonstrate to its users that it is still a trustworthy entity. The post claims that the repayment plan is already ongoing and that platform users will receive their funds in batches, meaning it could take a while before all the creditors are satisfied. Users are also advised to watch out for updates from official channels and update their details on the crypto platform.

Patricia has taken steps to assure its customers of the prompt return of their funds. While investigations are still ongoing, the platform announced the conversion of user funds to its native Patricia token (PTK). The platform promised users that the token would be pegged against USDT, promising repayment in the future.

During the period, Patricia mentioned that the token isn’t on-chain but will function as an internal token before it starts repayment. Patricia also made efforts to satisfy aggrieved users when it announced the delisting of DLM Trust as an escrow for repayments. However, DLM Trust came out to address the delisting, noting that it was due to disagreements between both parties.

Police apprehend politician in connection to the theft 

According to reports, the police uncovered a lead in the case that led to the arrest of three people, including a politician, Wilfred Bonse, in November 2023. In a statement by police spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Bonse provided help to the hackers, enabling them to launder about 50 million in stolen funds from the platform.

Bonse received some of the funds in his account, information that was made available to the authorities. Adejobi mentioned that the lead provided them with enough materials to crack the case wide open. While Bonse and others were apprehended, the police spokesperson mentioned that the force was still doing all in its power to apprehend the others still at large.

The Patricia platform hack underscores one of the ills in the crypto industry. While crypto exchanges need to do more about the security of their platforms, users are advised to keep their tokens safe by any means possible. One of the most used methods is through the use of offline wallets, which would provide guaranteed security. Users also need to keep their seed phrases safe from third parties, as exposing them could cause problems.

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