Nigeria’s digital-payment fraud losses fell 51% in 2025, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) said, while the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) reported that cybercrime losses more than doubled across Africa, offering distinct measures of the region's security challenge.
NIBSS put Nigeria's losses at ₦25.85 billion, down from ₦52.26 billion in 2024. Premier Oiwoh, the system's managing director and chief executive officer, said a single ₦31.1 billion incident involving one entity accounted for much of the earlier year's total. He identified social engineering, including insider abuse, as a major fraud method and also cited phishing, SIM-swap fraud and compromised accounts.
INTERPOL's 2026 African cyberthreat assessment recorded reported cybercrime losses rising from US$192 million in 2024 to US$484 million in 2025. Identified victims increased from 35,000 to 87,000. The organization separately estimated at least US$5 billion in direct economic damage in 2025. It cautioned that underreporting and different national reporting methods complicate comparisons of reported losses.
The report says Africa had more than 570 million internet users. It records more than US$1.1 trillion in digital transactions in 2025. The assessment draws on responses from 36 of 49 African member countries surveyed. Among surveyed countries, 97% identified mobile-money fraud as the region's most common scam. On AI use in cybercrime, 47% of survey responses said it occurred occasionally and 8% said frequently; those figures describe responses, not the share of all cases across Africa.
INTERPOL says online services have expanded faster than the safeguards, rules and institutional resources available to protect users. The assessment points to delays in exchanging fraud information among financial firms, telecom operators and law enforcement as a barrier to intervention. It urges providers to preserve records for investigations, connect fraud-alert systems with cybercrime units, use biometric checks during SIM registration and customer onboarding, and strengthen cross-border cooperation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria launched its Payments System Vision 2028 on June 1, 2026. The plan names security, trust, interoperability and collaboration as principles, and lists stronger oversight and consumer protection among its objectives. JA Africa launched its free, three-module CyberSmart course on Oct. 5, 2026, in English and French. The organization plans to work with member groups to bring the course to schools and youth learning spaces.
