Central Bank of Nigeria has urged banks to use the Cybercrime Prohibition and Prevention Act as legal backing to fight electronic banking fraud in the country.
The Director, Banking and Payment System, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Electronic Fraud Forum said this while addressing journalists in Lagos.
He said “So many things that were not criminalised in the past are now criminal offences. And if people are aware of this, it would even serve as a deterrent to those who want to be involved in activities that could send them to prison or deny them of their freedom or even make them to pay heavy fine.
“So we are gathered here to educate ourselves firstly and see ways through which we can get this information out to the public to give a warning as far as the electronic payment platform is concerned.
“We have a procedure in place. For example, if anyone is dismissed in a bank because of fraud, the name of such an individual would be sent to the banking supervision department of the CBN, where a database is maintained and such people are blacklisted.
“By being blacklisted, it means that such a person cannot work in the banking industry. So, how much does such a person want to gain to spoil his or her reputation and family name? Another thing is that the banks are collaborating to ensure that we reduce electronic fraud.
“There is a strong need for the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to corporate with us, and it is in our effort to actualise our plan in that regard that this visit to the Chief Justice will be conducted.”
The new Cybercrime Act, which was signed on May 15, 2015, stipulates that henceforth, any crime or injury on critical national information infrastructure, sales of pre-registered Sim cards, unlawful access to computer systems, Cyber-Terrorism, among others, would be punishable.
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