Forensic experts lament rising digital fraud, seek FG’s intervention

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Lagos Chapter, has expressed worry over rising digital fraud in Nigeria, lamenting its attendant effects on socio-economic development.

President of ACFE, Don Ogbonnaya, raised the alarm at the association’s sixth anti-fraud conference and investiture ceremony, where he decried how the criminal activity is milking the country dry.

While calling on the government to nip the menace in the bud, he said a synergised approach through the efforts of critical stakeholders was required to address the matter.

Calling on anti-fraud professionals to always stay alert and be proactive, he maintained that fraud experts must be informed with technological knowledge to be able to outsmart the dynamism of perpetrators.

Speaking on the conference theme, ‘Technology, Fraudulent Activities and Crimes in the 21st Century’, the First Vice President, ACFE, Dr. Titilayo Fowokan, said the growth in technology has significantly impacted and spiked corruption levels and all kinds of criminal tendencies, with criminals taking advantage of consumers’ weakness and reliance on technology.

Noting that corruption and e-fraud had dealt a big blow to the economy, Fowokan said the theme of the conference was apt to chart the way forward and nip the menace of corruption in the bud.

“It is also of concern the damage that corruption has done to our dear nation, and still we are unable to significantly reduce it from the shores of our country. The reason is not far-fetched. There is a systemic problem. Political corruption has been a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria. On the world’s 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Nigeria ranked 154 the same rating as Lebanon and Central Africa Republic out of 180 countries,” she said.

She reiterated that the conference was necessary to boost the expertise of fraud examiners on how they can detect and deter fraudulent activities associated with technology, telecommunications, processes, people and management of business activities in the 21st century.

To arrest the scourge, Board Chairman, ACFE Lagos, Prof. Godwin Oyedokun said: “Complete elimination of corruption and fraudulent activities from our environment will require conscious efforts on the part of the government to set the tone, monitor the implementation and put in place control mechanisms to direct citizens towards eradicating those acts from our society.”