Nigerian banks experienced a notable reduction in financial fraud losses during the first quarter of 2024, with the amount lost decreasing by 77.62% compared to the previous quarter.
This information comes from the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) in their recently released “Report on Fraud and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks for Q1 2024.”
The report highlights that Nigerian banks lost N468.42 million in the first quarter, a sharp decline from the N2.09 billion lost in Q4 2023. Additionally, the total amount involved in fraud for the quarter was N2.99 billion, marking a 56.73% decrease from the N6.91 billion recorded in the prior quarter.
The FITC report also noted a reduction in the number of fraud cases reported by banks. In Q1 2024, there were 11,472 cases reported, down 7.52% from the 12,405 cases in Q4 2023.
Consistent with previous trends, computer/web fraud, mobile fraud, and POS-related fraud were identified as the most common types of fraudulent activities. Specifically, mobile fraud accounted for 46.29% of the total losses, amounting to N216.83 million, while computer/web fraud comprised 17.00% of the losses, totaling N79.61 million.
Fraudulent activities in Q1 2024 were executed through various channels, including ATMs, online platforms (web and mobile banking), bank branches, and POS terminals. Notably, card fraud was the only type of instrument that saw an increase in activity. Fraud through POS channels rose by 31.12%, from 2,683 cases in Q4 2023 to 3,518 cases in Q1 2024. Similarly, fraud via mobile channels slightly increased by 0.45%, from 3,173 cases in Q4 2023 to 3,393 cases in Q1 2024.