Banks suffer N42.33bn fraud losses in six months – Report

• Published On: 12 December 2024 at 19:47

Banks in Nigeria reported N42.33 billion in fraud-related losses in the first two quarters of 2024, with increases across all payment channels except mobile fraud.

The Financial Institutions Training Centre's Q1 and Q2 2024 Fraud and Forgeries report reveals this concerning trend.

Also, bank branch fraud increased by 31% to N42.2 billion in Q2 2024, up from N133.9 million in Q1.

Similarly, computer/web fraud increased dramatically by 1,560.3%, from N24 million in Q1 to N400.8 million in Q2 2024.

However, mobile fraud decreased by 59%, from N216.4 million in Q1 to N88.7 million in Q2 2024. During the two quarters, there were no reported cases of fraud involving ATM channels.

The figures for Q1 and Q2 2024 show a shift in fraud activities related to specific financial instruments.

Card fraud fell by 47.66%, from 21,469 cases in Q1 to 11,231 in Q2, while cheque fraud increased by 36.67%, from 30 to 41 in Q2.

Additionally, cash fraud cases increased by 9.09 percent, from 209 in Q1 to 228 in Q2 2024.

Fraud losses across various payment channels were generally lower than the previous quarter.

Mobile fraud, which had increased dramatically in Q4 2023, fell by 99% in Q1 2024, from N21.6 billion to N216.36 million.

Similarly, POS fraud fell by 68.34%, from N14.61 million to N4.63 million, while fraud at bank branches fell by 62.42%, from N356.34 million in Q4 2023 to N133.92 million in Q1 2024.