By Modupe Gbadeyanka

One new generation bank and six financial technology (fintech) and microfinance banks have been accused of aiding fraudsters in defrauding Nigerians through fraudulent schemes.

This allegation was made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while addressing the media in Abuja on Thursday.

The Director of Public Affairs of the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said these schemes involved about N18.7 billion fraudulent investment and airline discount scams.

He disclosed that in the airline discount fraud, fraudsters lure their victims to lose their hard-earned money by involving “a string of carefully devised airline discount information that any unsuspecting foreign traveller will fall for.”

“What they do is to advertise a discount system in the purchase of flight tickets of a particular foreign carrier. The payment module is designed in such a way that their victims would be convinced that the payment is actually made into the account of the airline. No sooner the payment is made than the passenger’s entire funds in his bank account are emptied,” he narrated to newsmen.

According to him, over 700 victims have fallen into the trap of fraudsters through the scheme with a total loss of N651.1 million to them.

Though the commission succeeded in recovering and returning N33.6 million to victims of the scam, Mr Uwujaren cautioned Nigerians to be more vigilant as foreign actors involved in the scheme are converting their illicit sleaze into cryptocurrency and moving them into safer destinations through Bybit.

Narrating the second scheme, the EFCC spokesman said it involved a company named Fred and Farid Investment Limited, simply called FF investment, which lured Nigerians into bogus investment arrangements.

He said over 200,000 victims have been defrauded in this regard, with about N18.1 billion raked in through nine companies offering diverse investment packages.  .

In all, more than 900 Nigerians have been fleeced by fraudsters through the connivance of banks.

Mr Uwujaren claimed foreign nationals are behind the schemes, with three Nigerian accomplices who have been arrested and charged to court.

On the specific role of banks and fintechs in the schemes, two other directors of the EFCC, Abdulkarim Chukkol in charge of Investigations, and Mr Michael Wetcas in charge of Abuja Zonal Directorate, explained that, “a new generation bank and six fintechs and microfinance banks are involved in this. The financial institutions clearly compromised banking procedures and allowed the fraudsters to safely change their proceeds into digital assets and move into safe destinations”

“A total of N18,739, 999,027.35 had been moved through our financial system without due diligence of customers by the banks. It is worrisome that investigations by the commission showed that cryptocurrency transactions to the tune of N162 billion passed through a new generation bank without any due diligence. Investigations also showed that a single customer maintained 960 accounts in the new generation bank and all the accounts were used for fraudulent purposes.”

The EFCC called on regulatory bodies to bring financial institutions to compulsory compliance with regulations in the areas of Know Your Customers (KYC), Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and others.

The agency charged regulatory bodies that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), fintechs, MFBanks found to be aiding and abetting fraudsters should be suspended and referred to the EFCC for thorough investigation and possible prosecution.

It also warned that negligence and failure to monitor suspicious and structured transactions by banks would no longer be allowed, assuring that it will continue its work against money laundering by fraudulent actors.

Mr Uwujaren also tasked financial institutions to firm up their operational dynamics and save the nation from leakages and compromises bleeding the economy.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc has disclosed that electronic payment fraud losses declined significantly in 2025 due to coordinated actions by regulators, security agencies and industry operators.

Speaking at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Technical Kick-Off Session in Lagos, attended by regulators, banks, payment service providers, identity agencies and law enforcement agencies, the chief executive of NIBSS, Mr Premier Oiwoh, said the development showed the need to strengthen collaboration to sustain recent declines in electronic fraud and support deeper digital inclusion.

“The reduction in electronic payment fraud losses was recorded despite rising transaction volumes.

“We can only attribute this improvement to interventions by CBN, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), security agencies and enhanced monitoring across the payments ecosystem,” he disclosed, noting, however, that internet banking and e-commerce remained the main fraud channels, with social engineering and insider-assisted fraud emerging as dominant trends.

The NIBSS boss said the gains recorded could only be sustained through stricter controls, stronger regulatory compliance and industry-wide collaboration.

He stressed zero tolerance for non-reporting of fraud, warning that weak reporting, poor identity verification and abuse of transaction limits continued to expose the system to risks.

Mr Oiwoh pointed out that the effective Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Know-Your-Device (KYD) processes, supported by real-time validation of NIN and BVN, were critical to curbing fraud.

He added that stronger reporting requirements, joint industry action and a central “Persons of Interest” database—covering over 13,000 individuals—had improved detection and prevention.

He disclosed that the NIBSS was working with the CBN and other stakeholders on advanced AI-driven monitoring tools and a new national payment infrastructure to further strengthen fraud prevention and deepen financial inclusion.

Also speaking, the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, CBN, Mr Philip Ikeazor, said sustained cooperation under NeFF since 2011 had strengthened the resilience and security of Nigeria’s payments system.

Mr Ikeazor, represented by Mr Ibrahim Hassan, Director, Development Finance Institutions Supervision Department, said the sustained cooperation had reduced fraud losses in spite of rapid growth in digital transactions.

He highlighted industry achievements, including migration to EMV chip-and-PIN cards, two-factor authentication, enhanced transaction monitoring, centralised fraud reporting, and the integration of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) with the National Identification Number (NIN).

“Emerging threats such as social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise and Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams require faster, integrated and proactive responses.

“The industry is committed to reducing fraud response times to under 30 minutes and to adopt enterprise-wide fraud management systems leveraging real-time analytics and shared intelligence,” the deputy governor said.

On her part, Mrs Rakiya Yusuf, Director, Payments System Supervision Department, CBN, and Chairman, Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), urged continued coordinated action by regulators, banks, payment providers and law enforcement agencies.

Mrs Yusuf highlighted gains such as EMV chip-and-PIN migration, two-factor authentication, and improved identity management.

She warned that emerging threats required standardised frameworks, faster response times, and proactive use of ISO 20022 and analytics to sustain fraud reduction, expressing confidence that the forum’s deliberations would reinforce the foundations for a safer and more trusted digital financial ecosystem in Nigeria.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has started delisting Digital Money Lending (DML) operators that failed to regularise their status under the Digital, Electronic, Online and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025 (DEON Regulations).

A statement signed by the FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, Mr Tunji Bello, on Wednesday noted that under the approved enforcement framework, the commission has withdrawn the conditionally approved status of DML operators that failed to complete the regularisation process within the transitional period.

The move was after the Commission set January 5, 2026, as the deadline for digital lenders to comply with its order.

Speaking on the enforcement measures yesterday, Mr Bello said the actions were necessary to uphold the regulations and maintain regulatory certainty in Nigeria’s digital lending market.

“The compliance window provided under the Regulations has now closed. At this stage, the Commission is proceeding with appropriate enforcement steps in a manner that is fair, orderly, and consistent with due process.

“The objective is to promote discipline, transparency, and consumer confidence within the digital lending space, not to disrupt legitimate business activity,” Mr Bello said.

According to the statement, the commission has also begun structured engagement with relevant application hosting platforms and payment service providers, as part of ongoing enforcement and compliance monitoring.

Additional regulatory steps will follow in accordance with the law.

For operators provisionally designated as eligible under transitional arrangements, the commission said it has set a new deadline of April 2026 to complete registration under the DEON Regulations.

“This window is provided to enable affected operators to take steps towards compliance. Operators that choose not to regularise their status within this period may be subject to further regulatory measures, as provided under the law,” Mr Bello said.

He highlighted the importance of the register as a consumer guide, noting that, “The FCCPC’s register is intended to guide the public on operators that have met the applicable regulatory requirements as of the time of publication.

“Consumers were advised to exercise caution when dealing with digital lenders that do not appear on the commission’s current list of approved operators,” he added.