The prevalence of fraudulent activities that have ravaged the social and economic status quo of the Nigerian society have given the country a bad representation globally. With recurring reports of Nigerians being arrested for fraud cases, countries continue to stereotype most Nigerians as a result of the rampant corruption and fraudulent practices. In fact, 1.7 thousand males and 337 females were apprehended in Nigeria for fraud cases in 2019. The Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC however noted that the statistics of fraud have increased by 186 percent from 2019.
About a week ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria proposed a policy that would see to a limit in the withdrawal of cash via the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Though this policy was met with immense criticisms, the Central Bank of Nigeria have indicated that the new cash withdrawal limit policy was designed to help in salvaging the rampant electronic fraud that has clouded over Nigeria. Mr. Musa Jimoh, the Apex bank’s Director of Payments System Management Department whilst dispensing this assurance, noted that with the tractions that the electronic payment gained, there was an evident 35 percent decline in fraudulent transactions in 2022.
NeFF and CBN ring-fencing finance system and payment infrastructure.
Mr. Musa Jimoh, whilst speaking at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum meeting, stated that this new policy would help to deter criminals from defrauding innocent individuals due to the limit in withdrawal which has been shaped to automatically block and trace compromised accounts before the money is withdrawn illegally. He further noted that per envisaging and commencing the limits of cash withdrawals will help immensely in taming fraud. He pointed that with this policy, restrictions would be placed on accounts suspected to be linked with fraud and immediately traced.
On the immense strides enacted by the CBN and NeFF to curb electronic fraud, Mr. Jimoh stated that efforts had been undertaken to ring-fence the finance structure and payment infrastructure against fraudulent activities. He pointed out that the efforts enacted had led to the reduction of these fraudulent activities by a whooping 35 percent, as well as the recovery of substantial amounts of money through initiatives put in place to salvage the prevalent cases of fraud.
Oiwoh urged the CBN to make recovery process easy.
He admitted that though the attempt were still on a high, systems were being put in place to checkmate this discrepancy. Speaking at the event, Mr. Premier Oiwoh, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC (NIBSS) also noted that banks must also invest in technological advancements to further eliminate this perpetration. He reiterated that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be of immense help in eliminating this fraud.
Premier critically expressed that one major problem in Nigeria’s banking industry was their reluctance to report fraud cases and thus, urged the bank to set up a fraud desk and urged the Central Bank to make easy, the recovery process. With these improvements, the bank will have a upper hand in salvaging the recurring cases of electronic fraud. He stated that the bank, with immense support from the CBN can design policies that will enhance the protection of people’s savings from e-fraud.
Institutions must invest in fraud monitoring tools.
Mr. Oiwoh said that the institutions must also invest in the fraud monitoring tool, Enterprise Fraud Management (EFM) to effectively herald the combating of electronic fraud. He noted that every system was as efficient as the people who set it and as such, the EFM should help intercept, analyze, interprets and take immediate actions. He also said that besides the use of Artificial Intelligence technology, the CBN must also look into the cumbersome recovery process, whilst making efforts that allows for an easy access for reportage of fraud cases.
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