Fraud in the banking sector, mostly committed by insiders – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared in Abuja on Wednesday that the majority of banking frauds were committed by insider Information, Communication Technology (ICT) employees.

The declaration was made by Mr Abbah Sambo, Head of the EFCC’s Cybercrime Section, at a national seminar for judges on Banking and Allied Matters.

Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the EFCC, was represented at the seminar by Sambo.

He stated that the majority of banking sector fraud investigated by the commission revealed that bank employees aided the perpetrators.

He also expressed regret over the rising rate of cybercrime, despite the commission’s best efforts to combat it.

Sambo observed that in the past, young people involved in cybercrime were not ICT savvy, but today, ICT graduates are the crime’s champions.

He blamed the rise in cybercrime on moral decadence and peer group pressure.

“The rate at which young men commit cybercrime is extremely concerning.”

“When we arrest these criminals, one of the main reasons they give for getting involved in crime is peer pressure.”

“Their friends are into it, and they want to hang out with guys who have the best cars and the best girls in town.”

“Most of the time, when we arrest these criminals, we find them with a large number of assets registered in the names of their parents.”

“Cars in their mothers’ names and houses in their fathers’ names.” “There is a fundamental problem with moral coverage in society,” he said.

Sambo stated that the most difficult challenge in combating cybercrime was a knowledge gap, noting that criminals were becoming more sophisticated.

In contrast to law enforcement, he claimed that criminals could communicate with one another easily by sharing knowledge.

“A lot of people trying to combat crime in the field lack motivation because they don’t have the proper training,” he said.

He emphasized the importance of adequate sensitization and engagement with youths, particularly those in secondary school, to educate them about the dangers of crime.

The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute, organized the two-day seminar.