HOW-TO

How to Block Your Bank Account If Your Phone Is Stolen

If the phone linked to your bank account is stolen, act fast: freeze the account through your bank, block the SIM, and secure your profile.

Step by step

1. Call your bank's official customer care nowUse the customer-care number printed on the back of your card or on the bank's official website. Ask them to place an emergency restriction (freeze) on your account. This is the most dependable action.
2. Block your SIM with your networkCall or visit your mobile network (MTN, Airtel, Glo or 9mobile) to bar the stolen SIM. This stops criminals receiving OTPs. You can later do a SIM swap to recover your number.
3. Use your bank's emergency USSD code if availableFrom any phone you can dial your bank's lock code, for example GTBank *737*51*74# or Zenith *966*911#, then follow the prompts. Codes differ by bank and a few shared online are inaccurate, so confirm yours on the bank's official channels. UBA customers, for example, are directed to *919*9# rather than a 911 code.
4. Freeze cards and change your passwordsIn your bank app on a safe device, freeze or block your debit card, then change your USSD PIN, app password and the email tied to the account.
5. Report and follow upAsk the bank for a reference or ticket number, report any fraudulent transactions in writing, and visit a branch with ID if the bank requires it to fully secure the account.

Act in the first minutes

When the phone tied to your bank account is stolen, speed matters more than anything. The safest and most reliable move is to phone your bank’s official customer-care line and ask them to place an emergency restriction on the account. Use only the number printed on the back of your card or shown on the bank’s official website, never a number a stranger gives you. At the same time, contact your mobile network to bar the stolen SIM, because whoever holds it can receive the one-time passwords used to authorise transactions and reset passwords.

Emergency USSD lock codes, with a caution

Many Nigerian banks provide an emergency USSD code you can dial from any handset to freeze USSD banking. Independent fact-checkers have confirmed that several of these work, including GTBank *737*51*74#, Zenith *966*911#, Fidelity *770*911#, Wema *945*911#, Keystone *7111*9111# and Sterling *822*911#. However, the same checks found that at least one widely shared code was wrong: UBA customers are directed to *919*9#, not a 911 code. Because these lists circulate on social media with errors, confirm your bank’s current code on its official website or by calling customer care rather than trusting a forwarded message. There is also usually a limit of one blocked account per phone number within a set period, so use it deliberately.

Lock down the rest of your profile

Once the account is restricted, move to a safe device and freeze or block your debit card in the app, change your USSD PIN, your app password and the password of the email address linked to the account. If your BVN or NIN details may have been exposed on the phone, read what to do if your BVN or NIN is compromised and follow the steps there as well.

Recover your number and reopen access

To get your line back, do a SIM swap with your network, which makes the stolen SIM useless. After that, your bank can lift the restriction once it has verified your identity, which often means visiting a branch with a valid ID. Keep any reference or ticket number the bank gives you, and report fraudulent transactions in writing so they can be investigated.

Watch for follow-up scams

Thieves and their partners often call victims soon after, posing as bank or network staff and offering to ‘help unblock’ the account. This is a trap to harvest your PIN, BVN or OTP. No legitimate agency asks for those. If you are unsure whether a site or caller is genuine, see how to spot fake government portal clones for the same warning signs that apply to fake bank pages, and only ever act through numbers and links you found yourself.

SabiGuide is an independent guide and is not affiliated with any government agency. Fees, links and steps can change — always confirm on the official portal before you act. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.