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Nigerian banks have reported a substantial loss of N468 billion due to fraudulent activities in the first quarter of 2024, a notable decrease compared to the N2.09 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. This information was disclosed by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) in its recently released “Report on Fraud and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks for Q1 2024.”
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According to the FITC report, Nigerian banks lost N468.42 million in Q1 2024, significantly lower than the N2.09 billion loss recorded in Q4 2023. The decline in fraudulent activities also reflected in the number of reported cases, with a total of 11,472 cases in Q1 2024, compared to 12,405 cases in Q4 2023, marking a 7.52% decrease.
The report identified computer/web fraud, mobile fraud, and POS-related fraud as the top three prevalent forms of fraudulent activity, consistent with the trends observed in the previous quarter. Mobile fraud was particularly significant, accounting for 46.29% of the total losses, amounting to N216.83 million. Computer/web fraud represented 17.00% of the losses, totaling N79.61 million.
The report also highlighted that fraudulent activities in Q1 2024 were conducted through various channels, including ATMs, online platforms such as web and mobile banking, bank branches, and point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Notably, card-related fraud was the only category to record an increase, while cheque and cash fraud activities saw a decline compared to the previous quarter.
Specifically, fraud cases through the POS channel rose by 31.12%, from 2,683 cases in Q4 2023 to 3,518 cases in Q1 2024. Similarly, mobile fraud cases increased by 0.45%, from 3,173 cases in Q4 2023 to 3,393 cases in Q1 2024.
