Banks Lose N18bn To Fraudsters In 2023 – NIBSS

Banks have lost N18bn to fraudsters in 2023, according to NIBSS.

Glamtush reports that the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that financial institutions lost about N17.67bn to fraud in 2023.

This was disclosed in its Annual Fraud Landscape (January to December 2023) which was published on its website on Monday.

NIBSS incorporated in 1993 provides a mechanism for same-day clearing and settlement of inter-bank transfers and payments

According to the report, the fraud count decreased by six per cent to 95,620. However, actual loss from fraud increased by 23 per cent in 2023 when compared to 2022 with the first quarter being the month with the highest fraud volume in 2023 and the fourth quarter being the month with the highest fraud value.

The month of May recorded the highest fraud count of 11,716, followed by February with 9,492 while October saw the highest actual loss in 2023 at N3.7bn, followed by January with N2.7bn.

According to the data submitted to NIBSS by financial institutions via the Industry Fraud Reporting Portal, the mobile channel remains the preferred means for fraud as it increased by five per cent compared to the previous year.

It was also reported that the Web and POS channels were the most exploited payment channels by fraudsters in 2023. The count of Web Fraud decreased by 38 per cent and ATM fraud recorded a 64 per cent reduction from 2022 to 2023.