Nigerian depositors, banks lose N6.2bn to fraudsters in one year — NDIC

Fraudsters stole N6.2 billion from Nigerian depositors and banks in 2014, with majority of cases related to internet banking and ATM scam, a new report by the banks’ insurer, NDIC, has said.

The report, released by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, said in 2014, reported cases of fraud by banks grew by 182.77 per cent.

The total number such scams grew astronomically from 3,786 cases in 2013, to 10,612 cases in 2014, the report said.

While it involved about ₦25.61billion in 2014 (compared to N21.80billion the previous year), the actual loss was N6.19 billion.

By contrast, the actual loss in 2013 was N5.76 billion, the report said.

In all, the major catalyst for the rising scale of fraud, was internet and ATM banking.

“The expected/actual loss increased from ₦5.76 billion in 2013 to ₦6.19 billion in 2014,” the report states. “The increase of 7.57per cent in expected/actual loss in fraud and forgeries was mainly due to the astronomical increase in the incidence of web-based (online banking)/ATM and fraudulent transfer/withdrawal of deposit frauds.”

The NDIC said total loans and advances granted climbed from ₦10.04trillion in 2013 to ₦12.63trillion the following year.

However, despite significant improvement in banking industry’s asset quality, the volume of non-performing loans rose from ₦321.66billion in 2013 to ₦354.84bn in 2014, the report said.

The NDIC said it was confident there was no cause for alarm over the ratio of the bad debts to total loans, as it considered it within the regulatory threshold of 5%.