E-Financial
Bank Customers Lose N42.7Bn to Fraudsters in 3 Months- Report
Bank customers lost a whopping N42.755 billion to fraudulent activities perpetrated through social engineering in just three months.
Social engineering is when fraudsters trick individuals to reveal personal data that could be used to access their bank accounts.
In the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic and the months following, many Nigerians were and are still being defrauded mainly thorough social engineering.
With increasing penetration of fraudsters into the banks’ database, experts have warned Nigerians to avoid releasing sensitive information to strangers.
This is as some customers believe that staff of banks also collude with these fraudsters to release sensitive information with which they use in perpetrating their heinous crimes.
Leadership newspaper citing data from the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) showed that social engineering is still a preferred and successful technique employed by fraudsters, as a total of 11,589 cases were reportedly carried out using various social engineering techniques, resulting in N42.755 billion fraud loss value for Q3,2020. This represented 68 per cent of the entire fraud volume and value for the third quarter of 2020.
Although, Leadership investigation revealed a rapid increase in the spate of calls from fraudsters claiming to be bank staff with the motive to get sensitive information that could give them access to victims’ accounts, there are strong indications that some bank workers partake in this racket by selling sensitive information of customers to these fraudsters for a fee.
Experts however believe that while few of the fraudsters have insider links in the banks, a majority of them rely mainly on information gotten from people’s mobile phones, especially, stolen ones, or from websites in which bank customers may have done one transaction or the other, hence, revealing certain sensitive information that could be useful for fraudsters to pounce.
Leadership learnt that the fraudsters trick Nigerians by pretending to be staff of a bank, and ask for some details that will give them access to customers’ bank account; once they succeed in getting the information, they withdraw almost all the funds in there.
So, when fraudsters call bank customers and read their bank verification number (BVN), their full names and date of birth, many believe that they are being called from their banks and give out other sensitive information such as the two-factor authentication code that allows a successful diversion of the customer’s fund.
Many Nigerians have been defrauded this way and there has not been anyone who takes responsibility for the funds that have been stolen in this regard.
While banks, in this circumstance, always insist that the customer would have compromised his or her bank details for the fraud to have been successfully carried out, customers accuse the banks of leaking out information or collaborating with the fraudsters.
One opportunity that fraudsters leveraged on last year was through the several government social intervention funds aimed at relieving the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Nigerians, to rob them of their funds.
They had sent messages via WhatsApp and text telling people to fill a form to be a recipient of some of the funds being disbursed.
Similarly, the federal government N-Power website was cloned as individuals filled out sensitive information on phoney websites. An individual lost more than N1 million to fraudsters within hours of filling out his details such as BVN, full name, date of birth and home address, alongside other details on the cloned website.
According to data from NIBSS, attempted fraud value rose by 44 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to Q3 2019, while actual loss value for Q3 2020 rose by 500 percent compared to Q3 2019.
In Q3, 2019, there was 10,692 attempted fraud cases with a value of N1.09 billion while actual loss was N552 million. The figure, however, rose to 16,988 attempted fraud cases with a value of N3.5 billion of which actual loss to fraudsters was N3.35 billion.
While noting that there have been a few cases of bad eggs within the system who collaborate with the fraudsters, Osita Nwanisobi, director of corporate communications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pointed out that most bank customers in one way or the other compromise their data.
According to him, most individuals store their bank details such as account number and bank name as well as BVN on their phone which can be easily accessible by anyone who has access to the phone.
“Most of the time we give them the information. I have been hearing the stories and the reality is that we give the information. When some of these criminals are caught and they begin to tell how they do these things, we know that we give them the information.
“They tell you that all they need is your phone or your simcard and once they are able to get your sim card, it is possible to get some of these things. I am not discountenancing that even in the system, we still have some bad eggs, and it is very possible that some of them might connive, but the reality is that often times we give the information,” Osita stated.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) has announced strategic expansion into more African countries even as it plans to open a new office in Saudi Arabia, marking a significant milestone in its mission to connect Africa with key global markets.
Oliver Alawuba, GMD/CEO, UBA group,
This emerged during the Group’s Half Year Business Review held at its global headquarters in Lagos, where Oliver Alawuba, group managing director/CEO, UBA group, met with senior executives overseeing UBA’s 24-country footprint.
The meeting reaffirmed the bank’s pan-African strategy while outlining bold new steps into global markets.
Alawuba highlighted UBA’s continued growth outside Nigeria, with more than 51.7% of Group revenues now generated from its ex-Nigerian operations.
He described the Saudi expansion as a move that positions UBA to support cross-border trade, attract investment flows, and better serve the African diaspora.
“UBA’s vision is clear—we are building a truly global institution anchored in Africa, but serving customers across continents. Our entry into Saudi Arabia signals confidence in new opportunities and commitment to supporting economic connectivity between Africa and the Middle East,” he said.
The Saudi expansion adds to UBA’s international presence, which currently includes the United Kingdom, United States, France, and the United Arab Emirates. Alawuba also disclosed that the bank is upgrading its operating licence in France to further strengthen its European operations.
“In Europe, UBA has operations in the United Kingdom and is upgrading its licence in France, expanding its capacity to serve cross-border trade, investment flows, and the African diaspora, complementing our over 40-year presence in New York,” Alawuba noted.
Since launching its pan-African journey with an entry into Ghana in 2004, UBA has expanded rapidly across 20 African countries, establishing itself as a leading driver of financial inclusion, innovation, and regional integration.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated announced its plan to raise up to $250m in Additional Tier 1 capital through a private placement of contingent convertible notes.
In a statement filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited recently, the capital raise was approved by shareholders at the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting held in Lomé, Togo. The private placement offer was launched on July 9 and will run for ten days.
“Following the approval of the shareholders at its Extraordinary General Meeting held on May 28, 2025, in Lomé, Togo, to raise up to $250m in additional Tier 1 capital qualifying instruments via a private placement of contingent convertible notes, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated announces the launch of the AT1 effective July 9, 2025, for ten days. Renaissance Capital Africa has been appointed as the transaction adviser to ETI.”
The move is an initiative aimed at strengthening Ecobank’s capital adequacy, enhancing financial resilience, and supporting its long-term growth ambitions across its diversified pan-African banking platform.
Additionally, Madibinet Cisse, Ecobank’s Company Secretary, said, “This proposed capital raise represents a critical step in our efforts to fortify the bank’s financial foundation and support sustainable growth across Africa.”
It would be recalled that Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has raised an additional $125m through a Eurobond tap, bringing the total size of its 2029 notes to $525m.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has announced that the body has recovered lost funds from the CBEX fraud scheme.
Olukoyede did not announce the amount recovered, but he assured Nigerians that the EFCC is taking action against the promoters of the scheme.
The EFCC Chairman emphasised that the suspects found are facing prosecution.
“We have found a lot of people culpable. Those who promoted that scheme are within our jurisdiction and have been arrested. So, at this moment, they are being prosecuted. And we can also say that money has been recovered, even though the process is still ongoing for us to finally forfeit it,” he said.
Olukoyede also urged Nigerians to exercise caution when investing their resources into online platforms.
“Ponzi schemes remain one of the most pervasive threats facing unsuspecting investors. The CBEX case is a clear example. We all remember the outcry that followed the collapse of the scheme, but these unfortunate situations are preventable. Nigerians must begin to conduct due diligence before committing their resources to such platforms,” Olukoyede said.
He also stressed that the body remains committed to fishing out the culprits and recovering the lost funds.
“It was only when the bubble burst that people wanted EFCC to perform magic and recover their money. In the case we investigated in Lagos, which we dubbed Operation Flush, we arrested a large number of foreigners involved in various cybercrimes, including CBEX. I want Nigerians to know that as of today, we have secured close to 150 convictions. Some of them are already serving their jail terms. And when they are through with that, we are going to send them back to where they came from. So we are monitoring them,” he added.
He urged the public to stay vigilant, assuring them that the body will see the case to the end.
“We are no longer the EFCC that drops cases halfway. Whatever we start, we will finish. Nigerians should trust us and believe in our capacity to do justice. Some of these cases are complex and may require cross-border investigations, but we are up to the task,” he said.
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