Nigerian banks lost N3.3 billion to fraud in the first quarter of 2025, a 137 percent increase from N1.39 billion in the previous quarter, according to the Financial Institutions Training Centre.
The FITC Fraud and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks Report for Q1 2025 showed that while the total number of reported cases fell, the financial impact of each incident rose sharply.
“Q1 2025 recorded 12,347 reported fraud cases, a 33.8 percent decline from the 18,672 cases reported in Q4 2024. However, the total amount involved in fraud rose sharply to N22.27 billion, up from N6.5 billion in the previous quarter,” the report said.
The report highlighted that banks successfully prevented most attempted losses. “Lenders blocked N19 billion, representing 85.2 percent of the total value of attempted fraud. Actual losses accounted for just 14.8 percent,” FITC said.
Digital channels continued to be the main source of risk. “Computer and web-based platforms accounted for N10.6 billion of fraud attempts in Q1 2025, while mobile application fraud contributed N2.3 billion. Fraud through bank branches also rose sharply, reaching nearly N8 billion,” the report stated. Losses from ATMs and point of sale terminals declined, with ATM-related fraud falling to N576,215.
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Employee-related fraud also showed improvement. “In Q1 2025, deposit money institutions reported the termination of 23 employees for their involvement in fraudulent activities, a 28.1 percent decrease from the 32 terminations recorded in Q4 2024.
Additionally, 28 staff members are currently under investigation for alleged involvement in fraud during the first quarter,” FITC said. Cases linked to employees fell from 91 in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 63 in Q1 2025.
Fraud by outsiders remained the dominant type but also fell. “Outsider-linked fraud cases fell from 16,408 in Q4 2024 to 10,896 in Q1 2025, a 33 percent decline,” the report said.
The report provided a breakdown of losses by payment instrument. “Card-related fraud rose by 306.2 percent, from N3.5 billion in Q4 to N14.3 billion in Q1 2025. Cash-related fraud increased by 301.2 percent, climbing from N1.7 billion to N6.8 billion. Forged cheque losses rose by 196.8 percent, from N338.1 million to N1.1 billion,” FITC stated.
Shifts in fraud across channels were also highlighted. “Fraud via computer and web channels dropped by 25.6 percent, from 9,890 to 7,361 cases. Mobile app fraud decreased by nearly 48 percent, from 5,515 to 2,875 cases.
Point of sale fraud fell by 25.9 percent, from 2,103 to 1,559 cases, while fraud through bank branches decreased from 554 to 375 cases. ATM-related cases rose slightly from 166 to 177,” the report said.
The FITC report concluded that “Q1 2025 clearly signals a pivot in fraud tactics, from frequent small-value hits to targeted, high-impact operations. To match this sophistication, financial institutions must adopt a layered, adaptive, and intelligence-first approach, supported by interbank collaboration, staff accountability, and informed customer behavior.”