Banks in Nigeria have reported a significant N42.33bn in fraud-related losses during the first two quarters of 2024, with increases across various payment channels, excluding mobile fraud.
Data from the Financial Institutions Training Centre’s Q1 and Q2 2024 Fraud and Forgeries report highlights this concerning trend.
Also, fraud related to bank branches rose by 31% to N42.2bn in Q2 2024, compared to just N133.9m in Q1.
Similarly, computer/web fraud saw a dramatic surge of 1,560.3%, increasing from N24m in Q1 to N400.8m in Q2 2024.
Mobile fraud, however, declined by 59%, falling from N216.4m in Q1 to N88.7m in Q2 2024. No fraud cases were reported involving ATM channels during the two quarters.
The figures for Q1 and Q2 2024 also show a shift in fraud activities tied to specific financial instruments.
Card fraud decreased by 47.66%, from 21,469 cases in Q1 to 11,231 in Q2, while cheque-related fraud rose by 36.67%, from 30 cases in Q1 to 41 in Q2.
Additionally, cash fraud cases rose by 9.09 per cent, from 209 cases in Q1 to 228 in Q2 2024.
Fraud losses across various payment channels showed a general decline compared to the previous quarter.
Mobile fraud, which had surged in Q4 2023, dropped by 99%, falling from N21.6bn to N216.36m in Q1 2024.
Similarly, POS fraud decreased by 68.34%, from N14.61m to N4.63m, while fraud linked to bank branches fell by 62.42%, from N356.34m in Q4 2023 to N133.92m in Q1 2024.
