Money lost to fraud in Nigeria’s banking system has nearly tripled over the past five years, an industry regulator said Wednesday.

An analysis published by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System estimated that 52.3 billion naira ($34.8 million) was lost to fraud in 2024, compared to 11.6 billion naira in 2020.

The West African country, home to a thriving tech and finance sector, has for decades faced a rival industry of internet-savvy “Yahoo boys,” as fraudsters are popularly known.

The report said fraudsters attempted to steal 86.4 billion naira in 2024.

The numbers come after the latest GDP figures showed fourth-quarter growth of 3.8 per cent, the fastest in three years, in part driven by the services sector, including finance and insurance.

“The amount lost to fraud has increased over the past five years along with the growth of financial transactions in the digital payments sector,” NIBSS said.

Nigeria’s digital payments system is regarded as one of the most robust in Africa, and tech startups in the country raised an estimated $400 million in funding in 2024.

Such services have become even more important in recent years as a cash shortage and currency reforms pushed more users away from physical banknotes.

https://guardian.ng/news/nigerian-banking-fraud-has-tripled-nibss/