…People aged 40 and above main target of scammers
Fraudsters successfully scammed over 80,658 bank customers in 2023, a 4 percent decrease from the 84,130 victims in 2022. This significant number casts a shadow on the growth of electronic payments in Nigeria
Scammers primarily targeted individuals aged 40 and above and generally exploited vulnerabilities in mobile banking to carry out most of their attacks.
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System’s ‘Annual Fraud Landscape’ report, covering January to December 2023, revealed this concerning trend. While the total number of reported fraud incidents decreased by six percent, the actual losses incurred by victims rose by 23 percent.
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Mobile channels recorded a five percent rise in attacks compared to 2022, becoming the most vulnerable to fraudsters. Social engineering remained the most persistent and dominant technique employed by these fraud actors.
The total amount lost to fraud in 2023 grew to N17.67 billion. Lagos state recorded the highest number of fraud cases (48 percent of the total) and suffered the most financial losses (49 percent).
Unlike previous years, where fraudsters primarily focused on direct withdrawals, they are now exploring alternative channels to spend their stolen funds.
