Banking frauds in Nigeria perpetrated by insiders – EFCC

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, said on Wednesday most of the frauds in the banking sector were perpetrated by insiders.

The EFCC chairman stated this at a national seminar on Banking and Allied Matters for judges.

Bawa, who was represented at the seminar by the EFCC’s Head of Cybercrime Section, Abbah Sambo, said the commission’s investigation of most banking sector frauds revealed that bank employees aided the acts.

He also decried the increasing rate of cybercrime despite the EFCC’s efforts at tackling the scourge.

Bawa blamed the increase in cybercrime on moral decadence and peer group influence.

 

He said: “The rate at which young men are perpetrating cybercrime is seriously alarming.

“When we arrest these criminals, one major reason they give for going into the crime is peer influence.

“Their friends are into it and they want to run with guys that drive the best cars and have the best girls in town.

READ ALSO: 10 banks account for 87% of banking fraud in Nigeria- NDIC

“Most times when we arrest these criminals, we find them with a lot of assets that are registered in the names of their parents.

“They registered cars in the names of their mothers and houses in the names of their fathers. There is a fundamental issue relating to decay in moral coverage in the society.”

The EFCC chairman stressed that the greatest challenge in fighting cybercrime was the knowledge gap, saying the criminals were getting more sophisticated.
 
Bawa added: “A lot of the people trying to combat the crime in the field tend to lack the drive because they do not have the adequate training.’

He stressed the need for adequate sensitisation and engagement with youths, especially from the secondary school level to let them know the ills of crime.

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