Scale of the Crisis
Nigeria's financial sector lost an estimated ₦2.4 trillion ($1.6 billion) to cybercrime in 2023, according to data obtained exclusively by CyberSpaceChronicles through a Freedom of Information request to the Central Bank of Nigeria. The figure represents a 340% increase from 2020, driven by increasingly sophisticated attacks on mobile banking infrastructure and social engineering campaigns.
The CBN data, corroborated by an EFCC intelligence report seen by this publication, reveals that over 67% of losses stem from three primary vectors: SIM swap attacks, business email compromise (BEC) targeting corporate accounts, and insider-facilitated fraud at Tier-1 and Tier-2 banks.
Anatomy of a SIM Swap Ring
Our investigation traced one network operating out of Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Benin City that executed over 3,000 SIM swap attacks in 2023. The network employed telecoms insiders at major mobile network operators who were paid between ₦50,000 and ₦200,000 per successful swap.
"They had people inside the networks. The moment your SIM was swapped, within 60 seconds your bank accounts were being emptied through USSD transfers that couldn't be reversed," said one EFCC investigator who requested anonymity.