The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it is currently working on helping six Nigerian banks recover billions of Naira stolen by hackers, who gained access to the banks’ systems.
Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this during an interview on TVC on Sunday.
While declining to mention the affected banks to protect their image, the EFCC boss indicated that major banks were involved.
“As I’m talking to you, we have about six banks—I will not mention names because of their image—that have been hacked into by young people,” Olukoyede disclosed.
According to the EFCC boss, the Commission has been able to recover over N9 billion for one of the banks. “This is a major bank,” he added.
“For another one, we’ve been able to save about N6 billion,” he said.
Banks’ staff involved
Olukoyede noted that the fraud could not have happened without the involvement of the banks’ staff, who connived with the hackers.
He explained that the hackers used devices, which they plugged into the bank’s systems, to perpetrate the heinous act.
“They actually do it with the insiders, the bank staff. They will plug the device into their platform, wherever the other person is, even if he’s outside Nigeria, he will be able to control the platform of the bank.
“So, from there, wherever, whether it’s in Eastern Europe or America, he can move money. He can move billions in seconds just the way your bank account officer can move your money in and out of your account,” the EFCC Chairman said.
- He added that while the hackers may not be able to move the money out completely, they can distribute it to accounts of many customers.
- He said they also move money to wallets or to POS, and from there, they withdraw the money and disappear.
“So many banks are vulnerable as I’m talking to you now. But that may not have been possible without the connivance of the bank staff,” he emphasized.
Why EFCC is intervening
Olukoyede said the anti-graft agency is paying attention to the fraud in banks because of its impact on the economy.
According to him, the agency has been doing a lot in that area and not talking about it in order not to get Nigerians panicky, which may lead to mass withdrawal from the affected banks.
“It’s not the fault of the bank, but it’s the fault of the staff of the bank, some of the staff. And that’s why we have told the bank executives, look inwards.
“There is no way this act could be carried out successfully without the connivance of your staff. In all the cases we have seen, we’ve always seen the hand of bank staff,” he said.
What you should know
Nairametrics recently reported that Nigerian banks lost N52.26 billion to fraud in 2024, based on data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
- The data showed a significant increase of N34.59 billion compared to the N17.67 billion recorded in 2023.
- According to the latest report, the amount lost to fraud has increased by 196% over the past five years, in parallel with the growth of financial transactions in the digital payments sector.
- Although the annual fraud count reported decreased by 31%, from 101,624 in 2020 to 70,111 in 2024, the amount lost to fraud grew by 350%, rising from N11.61 billion to N52.26 billion within the same period.