The United Bank for Africa (UBA) has called for sustained vigilance and a strong culture of fraud prevention as it concluded its 2025 Fraud Awareness Week, emphasizing the need for proactive measures in the fight against financial crime.
The week-long activities, themed “Combating Fraud-Risk & Cybertheft in Digital Banking,” culminated over the weekend at UBA House in Lagos.
The event highlighted the growing threats of corporate fraud, identity theft, tax fraud, and other financial crimes, citing data from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners that organisations globally lose an estimated five per cent of revenue annually to fraud.
Speaking at the event, UBA’s Group Managing Director/CEO Oliver Alawuba, represented by Executive Director of Finance & Risk Management Ugochukwu Nwaghodoh, stressed that fraud prevention must be ingrained in the bank’s culture.
“It strengthens trust and protects customers. This year’s activities have all deepened and deterred fraud at every customer touchpoint.
As we close this week, let us uphold UBA’s integrity across the countries of operations. Stay alert, stay safe, and let us stop fraud together,” he said.
The bank’s Acting Chief Internal Auditor, Kayode Ajayi, added that the fight against fraud is ongoing and requires collective effort.
“Fraud doesn’t respect your degree or education. Fraud is a trend, AI is here, but social psychology is the same. Don’t allow yourself to be defrauded,” he warned.
Keynote speaker Prof. Godwin Oyedokun underscored that fraud is deliberate, not accidental, and urged individuals and institutions to be proactive.
“When fraudsters want to get to you, you need to be careful of the people around you. You must be more ready than the fraudster. Perception of detection is the greatest deterrent to fraud. Fraud prevention is better than fraud detection,” he said.
During a panel session, participants stressed the balance between innovation and security. Panellist Adebayo Adebeshin highlighted that both fraudsters and banks now share comparable knowledge, making vigilance critical. Fiyinfolu Okedare advocated for customer empowerment as the first line of defense, urging banks to educate clients on spotting phishing emails and social engineering tactics.
Another panellist, Bright Anyanwu, emphasized security by design, cautioning that product innovation must be accompanied by strong safeguards. “A good product is almost as good as the security of the product. Innovation is important, but we must also look at the security around it. Do some custom testing around it,” he said.
UBA’s 2025 Fraud Awareness Week finale reinforced the bank’s commitment to creating a fraud-conscious culture, highlighting the importance of education, vigilance, and robust security in safeguarding customers and the broader financial ecosystem.