Reports say that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is keeping an eye on at least 6,047 bank verification numbers of bank customers, just in case the numbers are linked to fraud.
This information was included in the report that was compiled by the CBN on financial stability in June 2022 and released in December 2022.
In addition to this, the research found that 11,871 BVNs have been watchlisted as belonging to deceased persons so far in 2018.
The report made public the findings of an investigation that the central bank of Nigeria (the apex bank) had carried out during the review period to determine whether or not 28 banks and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System were in compliance with the Regulatory Framework for BVN Operations and the Watch-List for the Nigerian Banking Industry.
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It was said that the investigation turned up a number of violations, which led to regulatory actions.
In addition, the report stated that there were 2.72 million people who participated in the BVN program during the first half of this year, increasing the overall number of enrolled BVNs to 54.65 million.
The report also said that out of 148.46 million active accounts, 130.57 million were linked to BVNs.
The part of the report that reads, “Also, 2,722,518 BVNs were enrolled, bringing total BVN enrolment to 54,651,086, reflecting an increase of 5.24 percent over 51,928,568 enrolments at the end of December 2021.”
“Out of 148,462,947 active customer accounts, 130,569,656 were linked to BVNs, while 6,047 and 11,871 BVNs were on watch lists because they were linked to fraud or dead people, respectively.”
Read also: CBN Records 700,000 transactions worth N8 billion on eNaira
Banks That Were Affected
In 2021, this information was on the financial statements of the banks, which were Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, First Monument City Bank, and Wema Bank.
According to their financial statements, WEMA and GTB lost the most money to fraud during the time period in question. Together, they lost a total of N670.73 million and N511.9 million, respectively.
The amount of money lost due to fraudulent activity in 2020 was N643.277, which resulted in an increased cost of N27.46 million for Wema Bank.
In the case of GTB, the amount of fraud-related losses almost tripled in 2021.The amount of fraud-related losses at GTB nearly tripled in 2021. The losses the bank experienced as a result of fraudulent activities increased to N511.9 million, which is a rise of N337.5 million from the N174.40 million reported in 2020.
Also, GTB said that it had seen 15,204 cases of fraud and forgery in 2021, which cost the bank a total of N1.2 billion.
Access Bank said that it lost N502 million because of fraud in 2021 but that other people lost almost N1.98 billion.
The bank also reported that it had discovered a total of 17,697 instances of fraudulent activity in 2021, the majority of which involved electronic fraud or USSD (17,911), cash theft or suppression or pilferage or dry posting (33), fraudulent transfer or withdrawal or reactivation of an account (16), and armed robbery (6).
During the time period in question, FCMB’s direct losses from fraud went from N59.03 million to N89.8 million.
According to analyses of their financial reports for the first half of this year, the PUNCH also said that Access Bank, GTB, and Fidelity Bank had recorded 26,877 fraud cases in the first half of this year. This information was gleaned from the reports the banks submitted for the first half of 2022.
Likely Cause of the Frauds and CBN’s Actions
Nigeria has world-class electronic payment capabilities, according to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System. It is suggested that faster transaction processing and more channels led to fraudulent transactions.
The CBN said its cash withdrawal limit policy would combat electronic fraud.
On Saturday in Lagos, CBN Payments System Management Director Musa Jimoh announced this. As electronic payments grew, fraudulent transactions dropped by 35% in 2022.
Jimoh told the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum that the new policy would prevent criminals from scamming innocent people.
The top bank official said the CBN and NEFF were able to protect the payment infrastructure and finance system from criminal activity by minimizing e-fraud.
The director included, “We have actually tamed down the incidence of fraud.” We’ve found a lot of lost money, and we’re building strong systems around our payment infrastructure and financial system infrastructure to keep fraudsters out.
“In terms of percentage, it is between a 30 and 35 percent decline in incidences of fraud.” Remember, there are attempts, and some of them are successful. The number of attempts is high, which means that they have been attempting but are not always successful, and some are successful, so money was taken away.
“And in terms of recovery, we also recovered high numbers in terms of the percentage of the monies recovered because of the different initiatives and systems that have been put in place to checkmate all those fraudsters and to track wherever the money is taken.”
CBN seems tireless in tackling fraudulent activities and will devise tactics to combat them.