E-fraud Poses Major Threat To Digital Finance,” says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has identified e-fraud as the greatest threat to digital finance.

The Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Efosa Idehen, disclosed this while speaking at the Secondary School debate organized by  the NCC in collaboration with Save the Consumer in Abuja.

The theme of the event was “Should Secondary School Students Use Mobile Phones To Enhance Education?”.

Idehen said that this was to create awareness and save consumers from e-fraud and to educate the young ones on the proper use of e-channels for financial services.

“According to the CBN, e-fraud is costing the Nigerian financial sector whopping sums of money.

“As technology evolves, there is a growing concern over the rising trend in fraud perpetuated on telecom platforms across key sectors of the Nigerian economy known as e-fraud.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates e-fraud as the biggest risk in the sector, which has widely affected electronic payment solutions such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS) Instant Payment and mobile banking.

“…Attackers are now targeting telecom networks with the aim to disrupt service delivery and infiltrate their data bank, SIM swaps, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and e-payment fraud.

“To address this menace, the commission actively collaborates with critical stakeholders such as CBN, the Nigerian Police (NPF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and other relevant bodies in the fight against e-banking fraudsters,” Idehen disclosed.