The Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), an arm of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled its activities for 2016 with the setting up of a dedicated e-payment and card crime unit in the police force topping the agenda.
The setting up of the unit will address the low level of apprehension and prosecution of fraudsters in the country.
“We believe that with this unit, running in the Nigeria Police Force, the level of apprehension and prosecution will increase and of course this will serve as a deterrent to fraudsters”, Dipo Fatokun, director, banking and payments systems department, CBN, said at the weekend at the NeFF forum sponsored by GTB and UBA in Lagos.
Fatokun explained that the setting up of a dedicated e-payment and card crime unit was born out of a request made by the Forum when it visited the inspector general of police, led by Suleiman Barau, deputy governor, operation, CBN.
Fatokun said the forum will collaborate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the use of Nigerian cards abroad, as well as with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US on combating electronic fraud.
“ We are hopeful that if we are able to meet these priorities, just as we are set out, it will help us in reducing further, the spate of electronic fraud in Nigeria”, he said.
Speaking on the theme: ‘Ransomware – A Creeping Threat to Nigeria’s Financial Institutions’, he explained that Ransomeware is holding the computer system of an organisation to ransom, kidnapping it electronically and demanding that ransom be paid before the system will be released for use.
Although ransomware is not yet a threat to Nigeria, as it is in Ghana, he stressed the need to sensitise and educate the stakeholders on the effect on the financial system. Consequently, the NeFF plans to have a week that is dedicated to anti-fraud sensitisation and education of stakeholders.
Another activity for the year he said, is the setting up of a robust website for NeFF which will further facilitate information exchange and public engagement.
“I am please to inform you also that request for proposals have been sent out and the responses will soon be open for evaluation and award”, Fatokun said.
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