E-fraud in Nigeria’s commercial banks increase in 2016

• as DMBs lose N2.19bn to fraudsters

By Odunewu Segun

Incidences of fraud cases in Banks reported to the Central Bank of Nigeria grew from 10, 743 recorded in 2015 to 19,531 in 2016, National Daily findings has revealed.

While unveiling the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum annual report at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum stakeholders’ workshop on cyber-crime in Abuja, Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele said that the banks lost a total sum of N2.19bn to fraudsters in the 2016 fiscal period.

Speaking on the theme: Tackling Enforcement Challenges under the Cybercrime Act”, Emefiele said a breakdown of the actual amount lost showed that across the counter transactions with a total value of N511.07m accounted for the highest losses.

This was followed by Automated Teller Machine transaction with N464.5m, internet banking N320.66m, Point-of-Sale transaction N243.32m, and mobile banking transactions N235.17m among others.

Emefiele who was represented by the CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, said the challenges faced while enforcing the Cybercrime Act of 2015 had made it imperative for a review of the act.

He expressed optimism that the workshop would proffer the much needed solutions and making practical recommendations for the effective implementation of the Act.

His words: “We have all witnessed how such developments in electronic payment as the ATM, POS, Mobile Money, Internet Payment, etc. have continuously eroded the significance of physical locations for financial institutions. ICT has revolutionized the way financial services are created, offered, and delivered.

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This is why the protection of information infrastructure utilized in the delivery of financial services is considered critical all over the world, and it was because of the importance of securing infrastructures such as those of the financial sector, and protecting the underlying services from cyber-attacks that the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act was enacted in 2015.

“As we saw recently with the Wannacry Ransomeware attack, even the most secure systems are still subject to breaches and simply protecting the network does not absolve it from attack. Another lesson from that attack is the speed with which attack once disseminated, becomes global in its spread and effect.

As you know, in several countries, including the United Kingdom, regular banking activities were suspended temporarily as security experts were working hard to learn more about the unfolding impacts of the attack and the extent of harm to the various banking systems and networks in their country.

“So no one is in doubt about the serious consequences of a network breach or similar cyber incident in any industry where the use of technology is the standard, such as is the case in our financial sector today. We all know that the incentive for network breach or cyber-attack in the financial sector is more compelling for obvious reasons, than other sectors”, he explained.