
The amount of mon – ey lost to fraud in Nigeria’s banking sector jumped by 496.96 per cent or N14.71 billion, between 2019 and 2023, a report by SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence has said.
According to the report, the amount of money lost to fraud in the country’s financial sector maintained an upward trend in the five year period.
Specifically, the report stated that the sector lost N2.96 billion in 2019; N11.61 billion in 2020; N12.77 billion in 2021; N14.32 billion in 2022 and N17.67 billion in 2023.
However, the report said that while the number of fraudulent incidents in the financial sector rose from 44,947 in 2019 to 101,624 and 123,918, in 2020 and 2021 respectively, it fell to 101,669 in 2022 and 95,620 in 2023.
A breakdown of the report shows that in 2023, a total of N3.80 million was lost to vishing, compared to N43.9 million in the previous year.
Vishing refers to the fraudulent practice of making phone calls or leaving voice messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as bank details and credit card numbers.
The report also shows that N1.01 billion was lost fake assistance in 2023 compared to N133 million in 2022. Similarly, the report indicates that N551.2 million was lost to phishing in 2023 compared to N240.6 million in the previous year.
The amount lost to missing/lost card fell to N122.2 million last year from N135.2 million in 2022, while the amount lost to lack of “2FA” rose to N192.3 million in 2023 from N137.8 million.
According to the report, the amount lost to card theft decreased to N658.8 million in 2023 from N916.3 million in the preceding year.
Furthermore, the report states that the amount lost to website/server hacking surged to N2.44 billion last year from N6.2 million in 2022. The amount lost to robbery also surged last year, rising to N1.61 billion from N437.4 million in the previous year.
However, according to the report, the amount lost to internal collusion fell to N1.04 billion in 2023 from N1.52 million in 2022.