The Chairman of Tekedia Capital, Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe, has opined that Nigeria needs digital police in the fight against frauds and forgeries in banks.
Ekekwe, in reacting to the Access Bank 2023 Financial Report on his X handle @ndekekwe on Tuesday, said Nigeria needed digits Police to fight fraud and forgeries in its banking sector.
The Nigerian multinational commercial bank’s report, says it lost N6.5 billion from fraud and forgery, up from N1.44 billion the previous year.
“Fraudulent transfers, withdrawals, and reactivation caused 80% of the loss, followed closely by embezzlement at 29%, which included cash theft, dry posting, cash theft, as well as electronic fraud, and USSD (9%),” the report indicates.
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Ekekwe commended the bank for making it public.
“Thanks, Access Bank for being bold to make what everyone knows PUBLIC:
“Yes, fraud and forgery have scaled in the Nigerian banking and financial sector. In short, I posit that more than 90% of fintech companies that have collapsed or are dying could be attributed to fraud. And in this fraud vector, NIN/BVN impersonation ranks #1.
“We need an efficient digital Police in Nigeria with the right tools because from banks to fintechs, fraud has evolved as a huge risk vector now.
“Of course, this is not just happening only in Nigeria; in the United States, banks are losing billions of dollars on digital-related frauds,” he tweeted.
Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offence.
