Banking Sector Lost N5bn to Fraud in Nine Months, Says NIBSS

The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc has said that more than N5bn was lost as a result of fraud in the banking sector between January and September 2020.

It disclosed this in its NIBSS Insight report on ‘Fraud in the Nigerian Financial Services’.

Part of the report read, “On a global scale, fraudulent activities have resulted in losses amounting to about $42bn. Approximately 39 per cent are perpetrated by external parties while 37 per cent are perpetrated by internal parties.

“Driving deeper in Nigerian industry data, the actual figures reported by the industry are quite striking.

“This year, about 91 per cent of all fraud attempts as at September have resulted in a total loss, and more than N5bn was lost as a result of fraud within the period.

“This represents financial institutions with an opportunity to protect their investments as well as attract customers by offering increased artificial protection and the ability to recover lost funds more easily.”

The report also stated that data from the industry antifraud portal data showed that 56 per cent of all reported fraud attempts were carried out using social engineering.