The Lagos Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has raised concern about the rise of digital fraud in Nigeria and lamented its negative consequences on socioeconomic development.
At the association’s sixth anti-fraud conference and investiture ceremony, Don Ogbonnaya, president of ACFE, sounded the alarm about how the illicit activity is draining the nation dry.
While urging the government to stop the problem in its tracks, he claimed that solving it would require a coordinated effort from important parties.
He urged anti-fraud workers to always be vigilant and aggressive, arguing that in order to outwit the dynamism of fraudsters, fraud experts need to be knowledgeable about technology.
The First Vice President of ACFE, Dr. Titilayo Fowokan, commented on the conference’s theme, “Technology, Fraudulent Activities, and Crimes in the 21st Century,” saying that the development of technology has had a significant impact and increased levels of corruption and all kinds of criminal tendencies, with criminals preying on consumers’ gullibility and reliance on technology.
Fowokan said the conference’s theme was appropriate to map the way forward and stop the corruption threat in its tracks because corruption and e-fraud had given a significant blow to the economy.
“It is also of concern the damage that corruption has done to our dear nation, and still we are unable to significantly reduce it from the shores of our country. The reason is not far-fetched. There is a systemic problem. Political corruption has been a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria. On the world’s 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Nigeria ranked 154 the same rating as Lebanon and Central Africa Republic out of 180 countries,” she claimed.
She reaffirmed the need for the conference to improve fraud examiners’ knowledge on how to identify and prevent fraudulent acts related to technology, telecommunications, processes, people, and management of business activities in the twenty-first century.
Board Chairman of ACFE Lagos, Prof. Godwin Oyedokun, said the following to stop the scourge, saying: “Complete elimination of corruption and fraudulent activities from our environment will require conscious efforts on the part of the government to set the tone, monitor the implementation and put in place control mechanisms to direct citizens towards eradicating those acts from our society.”
