Banking Industry: Value of fraud cases surge by 144% despite reduction in number of cases by 12%
A report by the Bank of Ghana has revealed that the number of attempted fraud cases in the banking industry reduced by 12.09% to 2,347 in 2021.
Despite the decline in the number of fraud cases, the value of these cases increased significantly by 144% reaching a total value of GHS 65 million.
This compares to the loss of GHS 25 million recorded in 2020.
Per the report, the significant fraud types that accounted for this figure included Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and Point of Sale (POS) fraud, impersonation, lending and credit fraud, forgery and manipulation of documents, cash suppression and E-money fraud.
However, there were other fraud types, which also recorded some huge losses. Notable among these are impersonation, lending and credit fraud, suppression of cash, E-money and forgery and manipulation of documents.
The report added that the increase in the usage of electronic and digital platforms in the financial sector resulted in an increase in ATM card and POS fraud.
ATM card/POS related fraud recorded the highest loss of GHS 22 million. This can be attributed to negligence of some customers and weak systems of some financial institutions.
Another significant fraud type was impersonation which recorded a loss of GHS 10 million. This loss can be attributed to lack of due diligence on the part of bank staff and customers of financial institutions when carrying out transactions.
The EMI sector reported a significant number of mobile money (MOMO) fraud incidents and loss values in 2021.
EMIs recorded 12,350 MOMO related fraud incidents in 2021. The total value of fraud reported by EMIs for the 2021 amounted to GHS 14.2 million.
The total E-Money related loss recorded by EMIs in 2021 amounted to approximately GHS 12.8 million.
