Nigerian banks, customers witness 12,553 mobile, PoS, ATM fraud incidents in 3 months

12,553 cases of fraud and forgeries were reported in Nigeria's banking sector in the first three months (Q1) of 2023. This figure marks a 14.07% decrease from 14,609 cases recorded in the last quarter (Q4) of 2023.

This follows a report by Legit.ng stating that in the first quarter of 2023, a substantial sum of nearly N1 billion was lost due to fraudulent activities and forgeries across multiple payment channels and transaction instruments.

This was disclosed in a report titled, "Reports on Frauds and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks", recently published by the Financial Institute Training Centre (FITC).

In the first quarter of 2023, the data indicates that mobile fraud, computer/web fraud, and POS-related fraud ranked as the most prevalent forms of fraudulent activities. These findings align with the patterns observed in the preceding quarter.

The money involved in fraud cases declined in Q1 2023

Based on the data, there was a significant 79.44% decline in the total amount of fraud cases during Q1 2023 in comparison to the previous quarter. The total sum involved decreased substantially from N12.58 billion to N2.59 billion.

Similarly, the amount lost to fraud also saw a notable reduction, dropping from N3.18 billion in Q4 2022 to N472 million in Q1 2023, representing an 85.13% decrease.

During the transition from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023, there was a reduction of 8.08% in the number of reported fraud cases, declining from 13,436 to 12,351 cases.

Surprisingly, staff involvement showed an increase, rising from 38 cases in Q4 2022 to 72 cases in Q1 2023, signifying an 89.47% increase.

Additionally, there were 124 cases that could not be specified and 6 cases involving collusion.

Mobile fraud is most occurrences

In the assessment of fraud categories for Q1 2023, Mobile Fraud emerged as the most significant, comprising N1.1 billion (42.72%) of the total.

Following closely was the Computer/Web fraud category, amounting to N646 million (24.99%).

Subsequently, POS Fraud accounted for N450 million (17.41%), while fraudulent withdrawals represented N139 million (5.36%) of the total.

The data concerning the total amount lost to frauds during the first quarter of 2023 indicates that mobile fraud constituted 34.07%, amounting to N161 million.

The category of Computer/web fraud followed closely, accounting for 27.69% at N130 million, while fraudulent withdrawals represented 24.72%, with N116 million being the corresponding sum.