UBA’s Fraud Awareness Week: Stakeholders Seek Collaboration To Combat Menace

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, one of Africa’s premier financial institutions, recently hosted a significant event during its Fraud Awareness Week, emphasizing the importance of inter-agency collaboration in combating financial fraud. This initiative aims to empower customers with the knowledge and tools needed to protect themselves from fraud and financial malpractices within the banking and financial sector. Running from Monday, October 16th to Friday, October 20th, 2023, the week-long event garnered substantial participation from key stakeholders across the financial sector. These participants shared their concerns regarding the escalating cases of fraud and discussed strategies to combat this critical issue. One of the event’s highlights was a Stakeholders’ Round-Table panel session held on Thursday. Distinguished guest speakers included Mr. Abbah Sambo Usman, Head of Cybercrime Investigation at the Advance Free Fraud Economic & Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Lagos State Command; Barrister Akin Adesomoju, Managing Partner at Akin Adesomoju & Co; and the Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, among others. These experts brought their invaluable insights and perspectives to the table. During the panel session, all participants reached a unanimous consensus on the necessity of collaborative efforts among all stakeholders, including banks, financial institutions, and regulatory agencies. The goal of such collaboration is to provide essential information, data, and intelligence to detect gaps in the fight against fraud and to prevent future occurrences. The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, who was represented by the Group Internal Auditor, Gboyega Sodiq, emphasized the pivotal role of the Stakeholders’ Round-Table session. He highlighted that this session is a central component of UBA’s commitment to combating fraud and safeguarding the integrity of the nation’s financial systems. Alawuba stated, “In a rapidly evolving world of finance, where technology and innovation are transforming the landscape of financial services, the need for robust fraud prevention measures is more crucial than ever before. This year’s campaign is encapsulated in two simple yet powerful slogans: ‘UBA won’t ask; so don’t share’ and ‘Stay Secure, Stay Alert, Stop the Fraud.’ These slogans serve as a reminder that as a bank, we will never request sensitive information such as PINs, passwords, OTPs/token responses, or personal details via email, phone calls, or any other digital channels. They stress the fundamental rule that must be adhered to rigorously to maintain account security and combat fraud actively.” In summary, UBA’s Fraud Awareness Week proved to be a vital platform for uniting stakeholders and industry regulators to address the pressing issue of financial fraud through inter-agency collaborations and customer empowerment initiatives.

SEC seals Stockmatch’s offices over illegal investment activities

In a renewed onslaught against promoters of Ponzi schemes, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Tuesday, sealed the premises of Stockmatch Investments Ltd in Maiduguri, Borno State for allegedly engaging in illegal investment activities.According to the commission, the office of the company in Wulari Plaza on Lagos Street  Maiduguri, was shut down for allegedly carrying out investment operations that fall within the ambit of fund managementwithout registration by the SEC. “This company does not have registration of the SEC to conduct fund management activities and has been found to promise exorbitant rates of returns to lure investors. The SEC has exercised its powers under Section 13 (w) Investments and Securities Act 2007, to shut it down” “The commission hereby notifies the investing public that neither this entity nor its investment platforms are registered by the SEC. “The public is hereby reminded that it is unlawful for any private enterprise whether incorporated as a company or not, to solicit funds from the public by whatever means, to fund its private ventures asdoing this will be in contravention of the Investments and Securities Act, 2007″ the SEC stated. The Commission, therefore, advised the public to always confirm from the commission whether an entity providing investment services has been duly registered and whether the investment schemes are authorised by it. It warned that any member of the investing public dealing with unregistered entities was doing so at his/her own risk. It further encouraged the public to exercise due diligence and caution in making investment decisions, adding that a list of valid operators can be obtained on its website.

Fraudsters fleece Nigerian banks of N9.5bn in 7 months -Report

The Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum reported at the weekend said that Nigeria’s banking industry lost about N9.5 billion to electronic frauds between January and August 2023. According to the forum, the digital infrastructure in the financial system is still subject to manipulation by cybercriminals. Worried by the negative implications of the surging rate of e-fraud for the economy, the Forum has called for new measures and increased collaboration of all stakeholders, particularly the banks and the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, to combat the rising trend. The Forum made this disclosure at its 3rd Quarter 2023 meeting in Lagos with the theme “New Strategies for Combating e-Fraud in a Cashless Environment”. Delivering his paper at the meeting, the Managing Director of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Premier Oiwoh, reflected on the disturbing trend of e-frauds in the country, especially through betting platforms. The NIBSS boss, who was represented by the Chief Risk Officer at the meeting, Temidayo Adekanye, said: “Recently, we had the cashless policies from CBN, which was incurring a dramatic increase in the volume of transactions in the industry which variably as the impact of the volume of fraud in the industry itself. Now, the increased efficiency has also meant that fraud has dramatically increased across industry. “For Q1 2023, the total fraud reported through the industry forum portal was at N5.1 billion. For fraud trends over the last five years, in 2019, we’re looking at about N3 billion and currently 2023, we are looking at about N9.5 billion to date. Fraud losses have increased dramatically over the last five years. “So, as you can see also from the current perspective, from January to July 2023, there has been a slight jump between June and July, a 39 per cent increase with 8,649 with the actual fraud losses in July 2023, we’re looking at N1.2 billion which is a 54 per cent increase over the period. Now as you can see from January in general, we recorded about N2.7 billion in actual fraud losses.” “What we see most is the fact that the primary channels are the betting platforms. So once the money hits the betting platform or a wallet account or in some cases POS agents once it’s cashed out, it is a black hole. There is no way you can recover that money. We’re talking about potentially five per cent recovery rates across the industry. So, we all have to identify those betting and wallets accounts, POS agents, cryptocurrency accounts, and in some cases purchases,” Oiwoh added. In his remarks at the meeting, the NeFF Chairman and CBN’s Director, Payment Systems, Musa Jimoh, said: “Today, we are here to continue that conversation to look at new strategies by which we can combat E-fraud. If we don’t combat the cyber criminals, they will weigh us down and disrupt the entire system. So, we all need to work together to see how we can make life extremely difficult for cybercriminals. “We need to look at new ways, new techniques, and more efficient manners by which we can improve and guard against the banking and payment infrastructure and educate ourselves on how we can safeguard our bank credentials or tokens and all the information that the banks have provided to us to safeguard.

N3m Salary Scam: Bauchi Civil Service sacks senior staff

The Bauchi State Civil Service Commission (BSCSC) has terminated the  appointment of Ibrahim Garba, Chief Secretarial Assistant attached to the State Pension Board over alleged “serious misconduct of salary and pension scam”. This is contained in  a statement by the Information Officer, BSCSC, Mr Saleh Umar in Bauchi.. The Commission alleged that Garba’s action violated the Public Service Rule (PSR) 0327(XI) which deals  with the issues of financial embezzlement. “The commission approved the termination during a sitting of the 17th plenary session held on August 1. “A disciplinary committee of the State Pension Board found Garba guilty of swapping the account number of one Audu Mohammed, now deceased, with his own. “This facilitated the change of pay point after the relatives of the deceased reported his death. “Thereafter, he received illegal pension for 55 months of N54,871 for four years and seven months which amounted to over N3 million. “This amount will be recovered from Garba’s benefits,” he said. He further explained that the chairman of the commission, Alhaji Abubakar Usman has called on workers in the state to be God-fearing in the discharge of their duties. He said the Public Service Rule (PSR) must be observed and adhered to as a guide The chairman assured the civil servants in the state that no worker will be victimised for nothing and the commission will not sit back and do nothing while bad eggs sabotage the service.