The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has revealed that financial institutions lost about N17.67bn to fraud in 2023, with Lagos, Rivers States and the Federal Capital Territory leading the financial fraud count.
The organisation disclosed this in its Annual Fraud Landscape (January to December 2023).
Lagos state recorded the highest fraud count and actual loss with 48 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, with the number of recorded cases rising to 46,224 last year from 45,952 in 2022, while the value of loss from fraud came down by 12 per cent to N8.7 billion, compared to N9.9 billion in 2022.
The fraud count in Abuja reduced by 26 to 4,548, while the value of money rose by 73.17 per cent to N994 million from N574 million the previous year, while Rivers State recorded a decline to 3,285 in fraud count from 3,785, with the actual loss value decreasing to N433 million from N319 million.
The report indicated that Ogun and Kaduna States recorded high financial fraud with Ogun remaining in the top 10 fraud count list, even though it recorded a decline from 3,410 to 2,867 while Kaduna State’s fraud count decreased slightly to 2766 from 2,893.
