Nigerian Bank Customers Lose N51 Billion to Fraud as Cybercriminals Increase Target on Fintech – Report

A recent Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) report revealed that Nigerian banking customers have lost a whopping N51 billion to fraud, as cybercriminals increase their targets on fintechs.

According to the report, from 2019 to July 2023, Nigerian banking customers lost N50.5 billion to banking-related fraud, which significantly increased last year and early this year as a result of the cash crunch, due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), naira redesign policy.

As of July 2023, the losses recorded to fraud are reported to have surpassed N9 billion, with predictions that the figure could surge to over N20 billion by the end of the year. 

These cybercriminals are reported to be intensifying attacks on fintech firms, due to perceived security weaknesses on these platforms.

In a bid to protect customers against surging fraudulent activities, on December 1, 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria via a circular, directed a Post no Debit restriction on all bank accounts without a BVN and/or NIN effective April 2024.

The apex bank said the directive was part of efforts to promote financial system stability and strengthen the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in all financial institutions.

In line with this, several banks in Nigeria have moved to intensify their efforts to educate customers on measures to take, to avoid falling victim to cybercriminals.

Notably, several fintech such as Opay and PalmPay have intensified security on their platform, with the introduction of new updates.

The startups are reported to have implemented certain security upgrades, following reports on fraud alerts, as well as directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria to strengthen the Know Your Customers (KYC) procedures.