Attempted E-payment Fraud Declines By 47.28%
The record of attempted fraud cases in the electronic payment system declined by 47.28 per cent in the second quarter of 2019.
The Director, Payment System Management Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Sam Okojere, disclosed this during the second general meeting of the Nigeria electronic fraud forum for 2019 in Lagos.
“As evidenced by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc’s second quarter fraud report of 2019, attempted fraud volume decreased by 47.28 per cent from first quarter figures, while web, Automated Teller Machine and mobile remain the usual suspects to be used by fraudsters,” he said.
He noted that operators had also continued to ensure concerted and collective efforts were made to check fraud in the country, as a result of the attendant rise in electronic transactions.
The director said, “Because of the cashless policy re-introduction and following the trend of increase in usage of electronic transactions when comparing volume of transactions that occurred in 2012 against 2018, which has seen growth on the following channels;
“Four million transactions to 729million transactions on instant payments, 2.5million transactions to 285million transactions on Point of Sale and 2,200 transactions to 15million transactions on Mobile lnter-Scheme Transactions respectively.
“There is a likelihood of continued increase in electronic transactions and corresponding potential upsurge in electronic fraud.”
He said it was necessary to review and strengthen the existing roles and enact new regulations to mitigate fraud risks in the payment system.
“Taming fraud would continue to be a focus for the forum because of the impact fraud had in diminishing trust which was an essential ingredient in building an internationally- recognised and nationally -utilised payments system,” he said.
“We remain committed in ensuring that the Nigerian payment system is not only easy to use, but also reliable and trustworthy.”
As a forum, he added, it also intended to collaborate with all stakeholders in having a harmonised and intensive awareness campaign on the do’s and don‘ts of electronic payment transactions in order to ensure that users were constantly kept abreast of what was required to be done to protect them from fraudsters.
The director explained that NeFF was the culmination of an enormous collective effort over the years, with many institutions and individuals contributing towards its development and progress to ensure a safe and more secure payments system in Nigeria.
