Business
Across the Counter: Exodus of IT professionals spikes fraud in banks
By Tumininu Ojelabi Hassan
Since 2020, the Nigerian banking industry has been hit with colossal fraud owing to the emigration of Information Technology (IT) professionals to developed countries like Canada, United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA). The recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the workforce of commercial banks in Nigeria have declined from 103,610 to 95,026.
Most banks’ IT employees resigned from their jobs to seek greener pastures in developed countries, which guarantee a fantastic pay and flexible working conditions. As a result of this, customers have been complaining bitterly of rising fraud cases.
Despite the fact that the banking industry is the most controlled and regulated industry in the country, fraud has continued to rear its ugly head in the industry.
According to a report on frauds and forgeries in Nigerian banks by the Financial Institute Training Centre (FITC), a total of 33,641 fraud cases were reported in the second quarter of 2021. The most prevalent fraud types during the period included Computer/Web fraud, Mobile banking fraud and ATM frauds.
The total amount involved was N6.8 billion,, while the total amount lost was N594million. The number of outsiders involved in these fraud cases were 15,913 while the number of insider (staff) involvement were 82, which led to four appointments’ termination.
Based on the 2020 annual report by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), 146,183 number of bank fraud cases were reported in 2020, an upsurge by 177.10 percent from the 52,754 bank fraud cases reported in 2019. However, these fraud cases amounted to N120.79 billion in 2020, a decline by 40.98 percent compared to the N204.65 billion recorded in 2019.
According to the NDIC, the upsurge in fraud cases especially in digital and electronic payment systems is a cause for concern in the banking industry. ATM card related fraud had the highest frequency, accounting for 39.81 percent of fraud cases, 17.35 percent was attributed to Mobile banking, while 0.63 percent of these fraud cases were traced to fraudulent conversion of cheques, which confirms the switch to digital instruments.
In addition, the report noted stated that a total of 474 bank staff were involved in fraud and forgery cases in 2020, signifying a reduction from 835 staff in 2019.
Our correspondent had a chat with an IT professional, who prefers to be anonymous. He revealed that the banks lost most of their IT talents to developed countries.
“Since 2021, over 20 of my colleagues have resigned because of Japa. Honestly, I can’t blame them, I mean they are leaving for better living conditions and for their future. The companies abroad pay well compared to the peanuts we are paid in Nigeria. Most of them work while studying, which is almost impossible in Nigeria due to the rigid working conditions, the work takes most of your time. You don’t even have time for other things,” he said.
Speaking on the increase in fraud cases, he said, “We are trying our best to reduce these fraud cases but the workload is too much for the number of fraud cases we experience on a daily basis. It’s overwhelming,” he stated.
A week ago, Chiamaka Agim, a former Zenith bank staff, narrated how N4,039,900 mysteriously disappeared from her Zenith bank account on 9th January, 2023 at 8:40pm. She explained this strange occurrence through a video she posted on her Twitter account.
“I bank with Zenith bank. Yesterday night, at about 8:43pm I got three debit alerts. The first one was to an access bank account, which was N3.7 million that was transferred from my Zenith bank account. While I was confused about the unauthorized transaction, I got the second debit alert of N222,900 about a minute later to the same access bank account.
“In less than one minute, I got the third debit alert of N102,000 to a UBA account. The money transferred from my account was over N4 million, what’s left in my account is just N12,000.
“I don’t know, who did this but please Zenith bank refund my money. I have gone to Access bank, I was told the money had been moved. This account is a staff account, I worked with Zenith bank, Apapa branch. My card was not misplaced and my phone was not stolen,” she said.
Speaking on the response from the bank, she said: “Yesterday I went to make complaints about the N4 million that left my account, their staff told me, “Thank God you are alive.”
In addition, she posted a video in tears, begging Nigerians to come to her aid. “Zenith bank told me they were able to salvage N800,500 from access bank out of the N3.9 million transferred from my account. I should get a court order to get a refund of N800,500 and they are not liable for my loss.
“I went to their head office in Victoria Island, they told me they will get back to me. In the email I got from them, I was told an e-token was used for the transaction, which I don’t have. They said, UBA told them “Their customer doesn’t depict a fraudster,” she added.
The Lagos resident stated that she lost her job in December 2022 and she planned to use the N4 million to start a business this year and also to pay her rent. She claimed her landlord was already pressuring her to pay her annual rent.
“Please Nigerians keep tagging @ZenithBank, I need my money complete. N4,039,000 not N800,500. @ZenithBank Refund my money in full. This money is my only plan A-Z. This is my life savings,” she tweeted.
This recent fraud case has triggered different reactions from bank customers, especially people, who have fallen victim of fraud. A lot of them took to social media to express their outrage and frustration.
A twitter user, Ajayi Abosede (@ajayi_bosede9), complained after she received a debit alert of N27,526.88 for a transaction she didn’t authorize. “@UBACares @UBAGroup, I didn’t drop my details for anyone nor my ATM or phone. I received debit alert. Without my knowledge and I don’t even know the person,” she tweeted.
No doubt, the exit of key IT experts in Nigeria is taking a toll on the operations of the banking system. Technical problems ranging from bad network, unauthorized transactions and failed transactions have affected service delivery.
According to a twitter user, @I_amEmeka, most Nigerian technology experts have relocated.
“Nigerians are joking with the aftermath of japa. GTBANK is having technical issues for over 30 hours, no team to fix it. Most of their tech guys have japa,” he tweeted.
In response to the above statement, another twitter user @Eqdr101, explained measures taken by banks to keep their IT experts. “Not just @gtbank, most banks have had to create a separate promotion structure, pay grade & work schedule for the tech guys just to keep them. The country is bleeding young professionals,” he tweeted.
Our correspondent reached out to an Access bank employee, who pleaded to be anonymous. “A lot of my colleagues relocated last year, it’s been tough. The condition for new employees is that, you have to work for a minimum of two years with the organization. In case you want to relocate before two years, you are mandated to refund N2 million to the bank, which is the training fee.
“This decision had to be made because we lost our experts to UK, USA and Canada after training them. The cost of training these employees isn’t cheap, it’s a huge loss on our part,” she said.
Steven, a 28 year old IT expert, who resigned from his banking job with a good pay and relocated to the UK in September 2022 revealed the reasons he relocated.
“I thought about the situation in Nigeria and I felt the way forward for me was to relocate to the UK with better opportunities and a working system. Nigeria is limiting the potentials of youths, there are a lot of things wrong with the system. I’m currently studying to obtain my masters degree and I’m also working.
“I had a good job in Nigeria but considering the rate of inflation and cost of living, I wasn’t earning well and I wasn’t fulfilled. Relocating to the UK is the best decision of my life.”
Nigeria is currently scourged by some issues, which include inflation, insecurity, unemployment and poverty amongst others. The situation has forced highly talented and skilled Nigerians to leave the country in search of a better life and future.
Also, in a bid to amass sudden wealth coupled with the socio-economic issues in the country, fraud cases are increasing tremendously and bank customers lose a lot of money to these fraudsters on a daily basis.
The immensity of losses recorded by bank customers based on report by the NDIC and FITC is an awakening call to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and regulators of the banking industry to investigate the banking sector and devise preventive measures to cleanse the system of criminals.
