Bank customers in Nigeria lost a total of N1.17 billion in the second quarter of 2022, according to a report by Financial Institute Training Centre (FITC).
FITC is a non-profit professional organisation that includes the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and all licensed banks in the country.
The centre revealed that information from 24 commercial banks in Nigeria indicated that the amount was lost out of a total of 8.78 billion reported fraud cases in the period under review.
The data revealed a decline in the number of fraud cases across the banks compared to the first quarter of 2022.
A total of 27,356 cases of fraud and forgeries were recorded in the first three months of 2022, representing a 32,49 per cent decline between the periods.
The total amount involved in fraud cases during the period also declined by 40,05 per cent from N14.65 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to N8,78 billion in the second quarter of the same year.
Also, for the total amount lost to fraud cases, there was a marginal decline of 23,66 per cent from N1.54 billion in the second quarter of 2022.
According to the report, mobile fraud which includes frauds via USSD transactions topped the list followed by Web/Computer and PoS fraud.
FITC said: “The amount lost via the Web channel decreased considerably from N1.07 billion to N98.4 million while the amount lost via the ATM channel decreased from N43 million to N5.9 million.
On the other hand, an increase was noted in the amount lost via the Bank Branch, Mobile fraud channels, from N103.45 million to N618.24 million (497.56%) and N270.92 million to N449.03 million (65.74),” FITC added
The overall decline stated in fraud cases is commendable for the banking sector. FITC stated that it is important for banks to strengthen their internal control measures for enhanced efficiency nipping most fraud cases in Nigerian banks.
Credit: Nairametrics