Shocking! Banks Suffer Fraud Cases Worth N16.5bn In Three Years

The economic recession currently rocking the country has increased the volume of fraud cases in the banking industry, with the attendant loss of money.

The banking sector recorded 31,736 fraud cases involving the sum of N16.5bn between January 2014 and December 2016, figures obtained by our correspondent from the Central Bank of Nigeria have revealed.

The fraud statistics are contained in the Nigerian Electronic Fraud Report, which was prepared by the Banking and Systems Payment Department of the CBN.

The frauds were perpetrated through various payment channels in the banking sector such as Across the Counter, Automated Teller Machines, cheques and electronic-commerce platforms.

Others are Internet banking, mobile banking, Point-of-Sale and web transactions.

The report stated that in the last three years, there had been more attempts in the number of fraud cases, adding that the development might be linked to the economic hardship being experienced in the country.

For instance, the report stated that the volume of fraud cases rose by 635.3 per cent from 1,461 incidents in 2014 to 10,743 in 2015.

Between 2015 and 2016, the report stated that the incidents of fraud rose by 81.8 per cent from 10,743 to 19,532 cases.

Cumulatively, the incidence of fraud rose by 1,236 per cent during the three-year period.

In monetary terms, an analysis of the report showed that while there had been an increase in fraud volume, the rate of increase could not be achieved financially.

For instance, the report stated that in 2014, out of the total transaction value of N43.85tn in the banking sector, about N7.75bn was fraud-related.

Punch