Fraudsters Fleece Banks, Customers of N134bn, CBN Reveals

Banks and their customers lost a combined N134.48 billion to fraud between 2020 and 2025 amid the rapid growth of digital payments and financial technology adoption across Nigeria, according to data contained in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 document.

The document, obtained from the apex bank’s website, showed that attempted fraud across the banking and payments ecosystem reached N187.79 billion during the six-year period, while actual losses stood at N134.48 billion.
The losses occurred across various payment channels, including over-the-counter transactions, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), cheques, e-commerce platforms, internet banking, mobile banking, Point of Sale (POS) terminals, web channels, and other electronic payment platforms, highlighting the increasing challenge of securing Nigeria’s expanding digital financial system.
Analysis of the data revealed that fraud losses rose steadily from N11.61 billion in 2020 to N12.77 billion in 2021 and N14.32 billion in 2022. The figure increased further to N17.67 billion in 2023 before surging sharply to N52.26 billion in 2024, the highest annual loss recorded within the six-year period.
The 2024 figure alone accounted for nearly 39 percent of the total N134.48 billion lost between 2020 and 2025, underscoring the scale of the fraud challenge confronting banks, payment service providers, and customers.
Similarly, attempted fraud increased from N13.26 billion in 2020 to N14.48 billion in 2021, N16.41 billion in 2022, and N19.72 billion in 2023 before jumping significantly to N86.36 billion in 2024. However, both attempted fraud and actual losses declined in 2025, falling to N37.57 billion and N25.85 billion respectively.
The report attributed the sharp increase in fraud losses recorded in 2024 largely to a major internal fraud case involving N30 billion.
According to the document, “Fraud amounts in Internet Banking, Mobile, and POS channels declined, yet overall losses rose by 196 percent, primarily due to a major internal case involving N30 billion. Web fraud incidents also increased by 169 percent.”
The apex bank noted that the trend demonstrated how a single large-scale fraud incident could significantly distort industry-wide loss figures despite improvements across several digital payment channels.
Prior to the 2024 spike, the report showed that fraud patterns evolved across different payment platforms.
In 2021, web-based fraud declined by 43 percent, but losses still increased because of a 276 percent rise in POS fraud incidents. In 2022, fraud losses rose by 12 percent, driven largely by major fraud incidents affecting corporate accounts, while ATM fraud surged by more than 2,000 percent despite declines in mobile, POS, and web channels.
The report further revealed that fraud losses in 2023 increased by 23 percent, largely due to a sharp rise in e-commerce-related fraud cases.
“Fraud losses rose by 23 percent, largely due to a spike in e-Commerce incidents, which escalated by 1,961 percent. Mobile, POS, and Web channels recorded moderate increases,” the CBN stated.
Despite the persistent threat, the regulator said the industry recorded a notable improvement in 2025 following stricter controls and enhanced collaboration among stakeholders.
The document stated, “In 2025, electronic payment fraud declined by 51 percent, demonstrating the success of stricter regulations, increased industry cooperation, enhanced prevention strategies, and improved monitoring.”
It added that the CBN, working alongside industry stakeholders, strengthened oversight and introduced collaborative safeguards aimed at reducing vulnerabilities across payment platforms.
The findings come as Nigeria experiences an unprecedented shift toward electronic payments, with instant transfers, mobile banking, fintech applications, and digital wallets becoming central to daily commercial activities.
In the foreword to the Payments System Vision 2028 document, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said Nigeria’s payments ecosystem has evolved into one of the most dynamic and innovative in the world over the past decade, driven by real-time payments, digital adoption, and fintech-led transformation.
Cardoso noted that the country recorded significant growth in electronic payments and digital financial services under the previous Payments System Vision 2025 framework but stressed that the next phase would require stronger resilience and coordination as the system continued to expand.
The CBN acknowledged that while digitalisation has improved financial inclusion and reduced transaction costs, it has also created new risks that require stronger cybersecurity measures, consumer protection mechanisms, and fraud-monitoring systems.
Under the new Payments System Vision 2028, the regulator plans to prioritise security, trust, innovation, interoperability, inclusion, and collaboration as guiding principles for the next stage of payments system development. The framework also seeks to strengthen regulatory oversight, improve cyber resilience, and deploy emerging technologies to combat increasingly sophisticated fraud threats.
Source: Punch (headline modified).