Banks, Customers Lost N134.48bn to Fraud in Six Years, CBN Report Shows

Nigerian banks and their customers lost a combined N134.48 billion to fraud between 2020 and 2025, according to figures contained in the Central Bank of Nigeria's Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 report.

The report showed that fraudsters attempted to steal N187.79 billion during the six-year period, with losses recorded across banking halls, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), mobile banking platforms, internet banking services, Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, e-commerce channels and other electronic payment systems.

The figures highlight the growing challenge of financial fraud as Nigeria's digital payments ecosystem continues to expand.

Data from the report indicate that fraud losses rose steadily over the period under review.

Total losses stood at N11.61 billion in 2020, rising to N12.77 billion in 2021, N14.32 billion in 2022 and N17.67 billion in 2023.

The figure surged dramatically to N52.26 billion in 2024, making it the worst year for fraud-related losses in the country's financial system.

According to the report, the 2024 losses accounted for nearly 39 per cent of all fraud losses recorded within the six-year period.

Fraud attempts followed a similar trajectory.

The value of 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 sharply to N86.36 billion in 2024.

However, the report noted some improvement in 2025, with attempted fraud declining to N37.57 billion, while actual losses fell to N25.85 billion.

The Central Bank attributed the unusually high losses recorded in 2024 largely to a major internal fraud case valued at N30 billion.

According to the report:

"Fraud amounts in Internet Banking, Mobile and POS channels declined, yet overall losses rose by 196 per cent, primarily due to a major internal case involving N30bn."

The apex bank noted that the incident demonstrated how a single large-scale fraud case could significantly affect industry-wide statistics even when fraud levels in several payment channels were declining.

The report also revealed shifting fraud patterns across the years.

In 2021, web-related fraud declined by 43 per cent, but overall losses increased due to a sharp rise in PoS-related fraud.

In 2022, fraud losses rose by 12 per cent, driven largely by attacks targeting corporate accounts, while ATM-related fraud surged by more than 2,000 per cent.

By 2023, e-commerce platforms had become a major target for fraudsters.

According to the report:

"Fraud losses rose by 23 per cent, largely due to a spike in e-Commerce incidents, which escalated by 1,961 per cent."

The CBN said stronger regulations, enhanced monitoring systems and improved collaboration among financial institutions contributed to a significant decline in electronic payment fraud in 2025.

"In 2025, electronic payment fraud declined by 51 per cent, demonstrating the success of stricter regulations, increased industry cooperation, enhanced prevention strategies and improved monitoring," the report stated.

The regulator said it would continue working with banks and payment service providers to strengthen fraud prevention measures and safeguard confidence in Nigeria's payment ecosystem.