The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System has revealed that financial institutions suffered approximately N17.67 billion in losses due to fraud in 2023.
This was revealed in the NIBSS’ Annual Fraud Landscape report (January to December 2023) published on its website.
Established in 1993, NIBSS facilitates same-day clearing and settlement of inter-bank transfers and payments.
During the review period, a total of 80,658 individuals were reported to have been defrauded.
The highest percentage of defrauded individuals resided in Lagos (23%), followed by Rivers (6%), Abuja (5%), Ogun, and Oyo (5% each).
Lagos reported the highest values in terms of both fraud count and actual loss, accounting for 48% and 49%, respectively.
However, Lagos showed limited progress in combating financial fraud, with the number of recorded cases increasing from 45,952 in 2022 to 46,224 in 2023.
Despite this, there was a 12% reduction in the value of fraud losses, which decreased to N8.7 billion from N9.9 billion in the previous year.
In Abuja, the fraud count saw only a slight reduction of 26 cases to 4,548, while the amount of money stolen increased significantly by 73.17%, to N994 million from N574 million in 2022.
Similarly, Rivers State experienced a decline in fraud count to 3,285 from 3,785, with the actual loss value decreasing to N433 million from N319 million.
Ogun State remained in the top 10 list for fraud count but saw a decrease from 3,410 to 2,867 cases, while Kaduna State’s fraud count slightly decreased to 2,766 from 2,893.
Although most states in the top 10 list saw a decline, both Lagos and Kano States witnessed an increase in fraud count, with Kano’s count rising from 1,888 to 2,168.
Regarding actual loss value, Cross River had the highest increase, surging by 2,202% to N1.04 billion from N45 million in 2022.
Anambra State also saw a significant increase in the amount lost to fraud, rising from N257 million to N864 million.
According to the report, the fraud count decreased by 6% to 95,620 in 2023. However, the actual loss from fraud increased by 23% compared to 2022.
The first quarter of 2023 had the highest fraud volume, while the fourth quarter had the highest fraud value.
In 2023, May had the highest fraud count at 11,716, followed by February with 9,492. October saw the highest actual loss at N3.7 billion, followed by January with N2.7 billion.
Data submitted to NIBSS via the Industry Fraud Reporting Portal revealed that the mobile channel remained the preferred means for fraud, increasing by 5% compared to the previous year.
Additionally, the Web and PoS channels were the most exploited payment channels by fraudsters in 2023.
