13,417 Nigerian Fraudsters Listed On Person Of Interest Portal

At least 13,417 individuals linked to fraudulent activities in Nigeria’s financial system have been captured on the Person of Interest Portal jointly developed by the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), security agencies and other stakeholders.

The managing director of NIBSS,  Premier Oiwoh disclosed this while speaking on ongoing efforts to curb fraud in the payments ecosystem, noting that the portal which contains names and photographs of suspects has been actively used by law enforcement agencies since it began capturing data from 2019.

Oiwoh, while noting that fraud management remains a core responsibility of NIBSS, noted that the number of reported fraud cases has declined over the past five years, the value of losses remains a key concern for regulators and operators.

According to him, actual fraud losses stood at about N17.67 billion in 2023 before rising sharply to N52.26 billion in 2024, mainly due to a single incident involving N31.1 billion by one entity. He noted, however, that losses dropped significantly in 2025, reflecting tighter controls and improved collaboration across the industry.

He explained that Lagos continues to account for the highest concentration of fraud cases due to its position as the country’s commercial hub, while Abuja has also recorded a notable rise, with other states still featuring in reported incidents.

By transaction channel, Oiwoh said fraud is most prevalent in e-commerce and internet banking, followed by POS, mobile and web platforms.

He identified social engineering as the most common technique used by fraudsters, warning that insider abuse now poses the greatest threat to the system.

“Insider involvement is high, and recent investigations have confirmed this. Many of the fraud cases we are seeing today involve insiders, including former bankers,” he stated, noting that coordinated industry action has yielded results, and that joint efforts last year alone prevented losses of about N20 billion that could have been lost to fraud.

He raised concern over non-reporting of fraud incidents revealing that fraud reporting declined by about 34 per cent in the last quarter of 2025.

He warned that failure to report allows perpetrators to move freely between institutions undetected.

“In several cases investigated last year, individuals involved in fraud simply moved to other institutions because incidents were not reported. Non-reporting is unacceptable,” he said.

He said NIBSS, working with the CBN, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, and security agencies, has integrated centralised data systems, including industry watch lists, politically exposed persons databases, and customer account repositories, into the Person of Interest Portal to strengthen monitoring, identity management, and fraud prevention.

On technology-driven interventions, Oiwoh said the National Payment Stack, launched last year under the directive of the CBN and built in compliance with ISO 20022, was designed with robust AI-driven security, adding that every instant payment is risk-scored and suspicious transactions are flagged in real time.

He added that cybersecurity firms and digital intelligence providers are supporting banks with AI-driven solutions to strengthen defences, while collaboration among regulatory and security agencies has intensified alongside the ongoing CBN recertification exercise.

Oiwoh, however, urged financial institutions to strengthen internal controls through staff profiling, job rotation, mandatory leave, lifestyle checks, and intelligence sharing, warning that cutting corners on cybersecurity exposes the entire ecosystem. “If you cannot afford to secure a financial institution properly, you should not operate one,” he said.