Banks in Nigeria have reported a staggering N42.33bn in fraud-related losses over the first two quarters of 2024, with increases recorded across multiple payment channels, except mobile fraud.
According to data from the Financial Institutions Training Centre in its Q1 and Q2 2024 Fraud and Forgeries report, the losses, which spiked across all channels except for mobile fraud, revealed an alarming trend.
Notably, fraud related to bank branches rose 31 per cent, reaching N42.2bn in Q2 2024, compared to just N133.9m in the first quarter of the year.
Similarly, computer/web fraud surged by 1,560.3 per cent, with the value increasing from N24m in Q1 to N400.8m in Q2 2024.
Mobile fraud, however, saw a decline, dropping by 59 per cent from N216.4m in Q1 to N88.7m in Q2 2024. There were no reported cases of fraud related to ATM channels for the two quarters.
The Q1 and Q2 2024 figures also reveal a shift in fraud-related activities involving specific financial instruments. Card fraud dropped by 47.66 per cent, from 21,469 cases in Q1 to 11,231 in the second quarter of the year, while cheque-related fraud increased by 36.67 per cent, from 30 cases in Q1 to 41 cases 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 displayed a general decline when compared to the previous quarter.
Mobile fraud, which had seen a major spike in Q4 2023, decreased by 99 per cent, dropping from N21.6bn to N216.36m in Q1 2024.
Similarly, POS fraud dropped by 68.34 per cent from N14.61m to N4.63m, while fraud linked to bank branches fell by 62.42 per cent from N356.34m in Q4 2023 to N133.92m in Q1 2024.
Fraud through the computer/web channel also experienced a decline of 16.08 per cent, dropping from N28.77m in Q4 2023 to N24.14m in Q1 2024.
The PUNCH reports that Nigerian commercial banks have lost a total sum of N42.6bn to fraud and forgeries over a three-month period from April to June this year, a new report has stated.
