• Gives reasons Nigeria is not fully ripe for cashless policy
By Olakunle Olafioye
A Forensic Accountant, Ori Adeyemi, has shed more light on why more and more bank customers in Nigeria will continue to lose their hard-earned money to fraudulent characters who disguise themselves as bank staff.
According to the renowned forensic accountant, these questionable characters have continued to thrive in this crime owing to the loopholes and bottlenecks in activating the law to nip the crime in the bud.
He speaks more on this issue, itemising the danger signs bank customers must watch out for while dealing with strangers on issues concerning their bank accounts and financial transactions.
Most Nigerians are still falling victims to fraudsters who disguise in all manners to fleece unsuspecting bank customers of their hard-earned money. Why is this crime so prevalent at this age and time?
There are several reasons for this and one of these is as a result of negligence on the part of the victims. In the first instance, someone calls you on the phone; you don’t know the person and he is asking you for your banking particulars – your password, your ATM numbers – and you are giving it to the person simply because he has told you that he’s calling from your bank. Who should you blame for that? Of course, it is the victim. Because he knows how to get to the bank or who to call when there is any problem with his or her account. Apart from that, another reason customers fall victims of fraudulent antics of fraudsters is as a result of collusion with some bank officials. There are instances when they get the particulars of bank customers through a bank staff. That is why when these online fraudsters call their victims they will be able to give detailed information about their accounts which would make the customer believe them and get carried away. Hacking is another way by which scammers get customers’ sensitive particulars. Sometimes the software of those banks are hacked and in the process some sensitive information of customers are compromised. What happens thereafter is that the customers get defrauded. Also, there is the problem associated with the use of ATM cards. Most of these banks’ Automatic Teller Machines are not full proof to the extent that these fraudsters could go to the extent of cloning the ATMs. Just having the number on the ATM cards alone, they know what to do to clean up their victims’ bank accounts. Another way they go about it is that sometimes these guys explore the loop-holes in the law. For example, some people will tell you that your BVN will expire after 10 year. So, the scammers can capitalise on this to call you and tell you that your BVN has expired. And the gullible may just fall victim having been hoodwinked to release some vital details of their accounts. These are some of the ways by which people get defrauded in Nigeria.
Apart from Internet fraudsters who call their victims on phones, there is what is known as One-chance robbers who pick their victims in their buses and when they get to some point they stop and ask their victims to transfer their money into their accounts (the criminals) accounts. This form of crime is getting rampant because the perpetrators often go scot-free. Why is it difficult to apprehend these set of criminals considering the fact that the recipient accounts are traceable?
Ordinarily, based on the policy measure in place in the nation’s banking industry it shouldn’t be a problem to trace the accounts and apprehend these criminals if the security operatives are ready to do their jobs. Even the banks can easily help if they really want to. The banks can trace the movement of the money from one account to the other and right now it is very difficult to open an account without the BVN or NIN numbers. So, tracing such criminal transactions shouldn’t be a problem, but the problem lies largely with the security apparatus.
But the police often blame their inability to help victims of such crime on the legal bottlenecks associated with tackling such crime. For instance, according to the police, the law requires that the victims get a court order compelling the banks to help prevent the benefiting account owner from drawing from the account pending the conclusion of investigation?
The issue is that I am of the opinion that it should stop with the police. But then there is a possibility that some people might want to abuse it. Ordinarily, because of the urgency which such matters require, all a victim needs to do is to lodge the complaints with his bank and the bank will help to place a ‘no-debit’ order on the account. With that no money can be moved out of the account until the necessary actions have been taken on the matter. You don’t even need court papers before you get such assistance from the bank, but the problem is that in Nigeria we make things unnecessarily difficult for the people. In cases like this, what the banks do, at most, is just to tell you the account that received the money. And often no action is taken on the account until the long and time consuming legal procedures have been taken during which the money might have been taken out of the account. You have to understand that as a bank, once money leaves your domain, you don’t have any control over it again. But if the money is still within the same bank, but different accounts, yes the bank can still help.
Considering the prevalence of this form of fraud would you then say Nigeria is ripe for the cashless policy the government is forcing on Nigerians?
No! Nigeria is not fully ripe for cashless policy and that was what influenced the apathy and the resistance that was on the display when the Central Bank of Nigeria wanted to foist it on the country recently. We failed to take the high illiteracy rate in Nigeria into consideration. They also failed to realise that most Nigerians do not have bank accounts. In fact, there are areas in this country where people may have to travel hundreds of kilometers before they can get a bank. Then the fraud associated with banking in Nigeria, particularly Internet or online banking is a major source of discouragement to most people as far as the cashless policy is concerned. Then we must realise that Nigerians are used to holding cash. So, that was the reason the attempt by the CBN to foist on Nigerians met stiff resistance from the populace. How many Nigerians have access to the Internet or phones to practice Internet or online banking? The horrible network on the banks’ platforms is another issue. You would remember that during the heat of the cashless policy by the CBN a few months ago some people would transfer money and for days it would not be delivered. That is not to say it should not be introduced and embraced by Nigerians, but the government must ensure that there is an alternative; people should be able to weigh both the pros and cons of using both options. It is only when the people see the advantages of going cashless that they would be ready to embrace it. If people can be assured that their money is secured using Internet or online banking, they will definitely embrace it. The banks must strive to perfect all the imperfections and plug the loopholes that make Internet and online banking vulnerable. That is when Nigeria can be said to be ready for cashless policy.
Going to banks these days comes with a whole lot of challenges considering the crowd you see coming for one transaction or the other. Isn’t that enough reason for Nigerians to embrace the cashless policy and save themselves the hassle of spending all their time in the bank?
I agree with that view. That is one of the fallouts of this cashless policy. The country is yet to get over the problem brought about by the CBN’s recent policy. If you go outside Lagos; Ibadan, Akure and other states, these are places where you will see crowds in banks. Added to this problem is the restriction or limit to the amount of money you can withdraw daily across the counter or through ATMs. The law is clear: you are entitled to the credit balance you have in your account. No bank can stop you from withdrawing it. That is the law.
What are the red flags Nigerians should then look for in order to be alerted that they might end up in the hands of fraudsters?
One of the signs they should look for is when someone is putting an offer that looks too good and too attractive before you. Secondly, people should be more circumspect when dealing with people online. You can’t afford to be negligent or easily carried away when dealing with people online especially when they claim they are calling you from your bank. They should not be careless with their banking data. Sometimes, they will just send OTP to you and ask you to call it back for them on the phone. Don’t make the mistake of calling it or sending it to them. If you have any reason to believe that you need help from your bank, it is better you go there. The truth is that before your account could be hacked, the hacker must first of all hack into the software of the bank. The only way to give them access to your account is when you cooperate with them by releasing your banking details or the OTP sent to you. Again Nigerians should be very careful when using POS because your ATM could be swop or the numbers on it could be taken. And with that they are home and dry. These are some of the signals one should watch out for.