‎Lagos Leads in Nigeria’s E-Fraud Cases: Accounts for Over 63 Percent of Country’s Electronic Frauds

‎Lagos Leads in Nigeria’s E-Fraud Cases: Accounts for Over 63 Percent of Country’s Electronic Frauds
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‎Lagos has emerged as the epicentre of electronic fraud cases in Nigeria, accounting for over 63 per cent of reported incidents, even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandates a 30-minute response time for banks to address customers’ electronic fraud complaints.
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‎The new directive, aimed at strengthening consumer protection and improving recovery outcomes, comes amid fresh data showing a significant 51 per cent reduction in financial losses linked to electronic fraud across the banking sector in 2025.
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‎According to figures released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) during the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Technical Kick-off Session held in Lagos, total losses to fraud dropped sharply from N52.26 billion in 2024 to N25.85 billion in 2025.
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‎While the overall fraud count declined marginally by four per cent — from 70,111 cases in 2024 to 67,518 in 2025 — Lagos recorded the highest number of reported cases nationwide. The data showed that Lagos alone accounted for 63.43 per cent of the total fraud volume, far ahead of Abuja, which came a distant second with 3.12 per cent.
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‎Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, represented by the Director of Development and Finance Institutions Supervision, Ibrahim Umar Hassan, stressed that the apex bank is intensifying efforts to curb fraud through the adoption of global financial messaging standards.
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‎He noted that the industry is migrating to ISO 20022, a move expected to significantly enhance fraud detection, monitoring, and response mechanisms across the financial system.
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‎To further improve customer protection, Ikeazor announced that banks are now required to respond to fraud complaints within 30 minutes, describing the measure as critical to limiting losses and restoring public confidence in electronic payment platforms.
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‎“The industry has agreed to reduce fraud response time to under 30 minutes — a decisive step that materially improves recovery outcomes and limits systemic exposure,” he said, adding that delays in responding to fraud incidents often escalate losses and undermine trust in digital banking services.