Over N2.5bn were reportedly lost to fraudsters in the first quarter of 2023.
This is a result of various fraud activities which include mobile fraud, computer/web fraud and POS-related fraud were the top three frauds with the highest number of occurrences.
According to the report on Frauds and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks released by the Financial Institutions Training Centre, the there was a 79.44 per cent decrease in the total amount involved in fraud cases in Q1 2023 compared to the previous quarter.
The sum decreased from N12.58 billion to N2.59 billion. There was a decrease from the N3.18 billion in Q4 2022 to N472 million in Q1 2023 in total amount lost to fraud and this is an 85.13 percent decrease.
Also, staff involvement in the cases increased to 72 cases in Q1 2023 from 38 cases in Q4 2022 representing a 89.47 per cent increase. Also, there were a total of 124 unspecified cases and 6 collusion cases.
The fraud activities were performed using a range of channels, including ATMs, Web, and Mobile Banking Platforms (including the USSD & e-Naira channel), Bank branches, and POS (Point of Sale) terminals.
The highest instruments used for the fraud was cash and card while there was low frequency of usage of cheques in the fraud activities.
