Nigeria’s Banking Fraud Hits N52bn in 4yrs – NIBSS

Fraud transactions in Nigeria’s banking system have tripled over the past four years from N11 billion to N52 billion, statistics from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has shown.

An analysis published by the NIBSS on Wednesday estimated that N52.3 billion was lost to fraud in 2024, compared to N11.6 billion in 2020.

The report said fraudsters attempted to steal N86.4 billion in 2024.

The figure is coming on the heels of the latest GDP figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showing a fourth quarter 2024 growth of 3.8 percent, the fastest in three years, driven by the services sector, including finance and insurance.

“The amount lost to fraud has increased over the past five years along with the growth of financial transactions in the digital payments sector,” NIBSS said.

The report added that “Fraudsters were said to use various methods, including withdrawing funds to gift cards and opening accounts with the stolen identities of senior citizens, minors and foreigners. Also, over 400 million naira were received in accounts opened with the stolen identities of senior citizens,”

NIBSS noted that some funds have been recovered and implicated bank staff are currently being investigated.