Zenith Bank, Access Bank, First Bank and other deposit money banks sacked 49 staff members between April and June 2024 over fraudulent activities.
This is contained in a report published by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC).
According to the report, there has been a worrisome rise in internal misconduct, with bank employees discharged for fraudulent activities rising by 40% relative to 35 employees dismissed in the first quarter of 2024.
The report further indicated that 58 bank employees were involved in 11,532 fraud cases reported during Q2 2024, representing a 23% increase in insider involvement compared to 47 cases in the first quarter.
The report said fraud cases involving external actors spiked by 5.20%, from 10,397 in the first quarter to 1,038 in the second quarter. The financial effect of the fraudulent activities also rose, with losses from fraud in the second quarter skyrocketing by over 900%, reaching N42.6 billion.
The figure represents a sharp contrast to the N468.4 million recorded in the first quarter of 2024 and a 637% rise relative to the N5.7 billion loss reported in Q2 of 2023.
The amount lost in the second quarter of 2024 surpassed the total losses of N9.4 billion suffered by Nigerian banks throughout 2023.
The Sun reports that a breakdown of the report shows that various fraud types accounted for most of the losses, 96.46% of the total amount lost and valued at N41.14 billion.
Fraudulent withdrawals and computer/web-based fraud followed, with total losses of N781.2 million and N400.7 million, respectively.
Responding to growing threats of insider fraud, the FITC recommended that financial institutions use technology to curtail fraud risks in their systems.
The centre specifically urged banks to implement stricter access controls by limiting access to sensitive settlement files to a small vetted group of authorised personnel with the appropriate clearance and training.
It also recommended the adoption of multi-factor authentication and role-based controls to safeguard unauthorised changes to critical files.
The FITC stressed the importance of continuous fraud prevention training for employees, focusing on emerging fraud techniques and crucial warning signs, especially as card-based and web-related fraud continues to rise.
Read full report here:
