To tackle electronic fraud, the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) is urging greater stakeholder cooperation. At its Quarter Three 2023 General Meeting held in Lagos on Friday, the forum also unveiled a webpage to share information and educate the public about the growing threat.
Musa Jimoh, director of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Payment Systems Management, urged for widespread collaboration. Jimoh, who is also the chairman of NeFF, claimed that cybercriminals have multiplied and will cause a serious catastrophe for people and organizations if nothing is done about it.
He stated:“Today, we are here to look at the new strategies by which we can combat fraud; If we don’t combat the cyber criminals; they will weigh us down and breed the entire system.”
“So, we all need to work together to see how we can make life extremely difficult for cybercriminals. You know like the popular saying today; they say you should let the poor breathe, but we shouldn’t let these criminals breathe.”
“We should suffocate them to death because our hard-earned money is what these guys are forcibly taking away from us,” he said. The Chief Executive Officer, Ignis Solutions Ltd., Simon Martin, urged stakeholders to pay more attention to building capacity to be able to combat e-Fraud.”
She went on to add that: “I think it’s important that we build our capacity; I think it’s important that we pay attention to possible emerging threats that could hamper our developments in digital payments and moving toward a cashless society.”
“I think education is important, not only for our systems and for people, but for individual self and it’s one of the reasons why I identify myself as an unconventional regulator.”
“It is important that we apply design thinking in our lives as we go forward. Things are evolving, and so too, we must evolve as well.”
Premier Oiwoh, the managing director of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), advised stakeholders to pay closer attention to mobile channels because they were the main method of fraud.
Temidayo Adekanye spoke on behalf of Oiwoh, who discussed “The Current and Emerging E-Fraud Landscape in Nigeria: Data Analytic.”
Oiwoh further stated: “So, I will advise that everyone focuses on mobile channels as the most significant point used for these fraudulent actions.
“But what we see most importantly is the fact that the primary channels are the betting platforms.”
“So, once the money leaves the betting platform; Wallet account, or in some cases PoS agents; once it is cashed out, it is a black hole. There is no way you can recover that money.”
The forum fosters partnerships, improves collaboration, and stimulates discussion that lead to workable ideas to prevent e-fraud.
