NFIU warns public on new tactics used by fraudsters 

Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has alerted the public of the increasing activities of fraudsters including some that approached it to help it recover as huge as 30 billion Euros. The organisation in a notice in Abuja, advised members of the public to be more careful as fraudsters had become bolder than ever. It said that it is committed to providing timely advice or guidance to its stakeholders through an evidence-based approach from relevant case studies. NFIU said “a law firm submitted a petition on behalf of its client an NGO requesting the NFIU and other relevant agencies to trace and recover the sum of €30,000,000,000.00 (Thirty Billion Euros) only, transferred from a foreign bank to a bank in Nigeria. 

“The petition further claimed the funds have been blocked by a financial institution in Nigeria. The purpose of the funds according to the petition is for investment in the real estate sector.  In another case a law firm forwarded a petition on behalf of its client seeking to trace and  recover the sum of €6,000,000,000.00 (Six Billion Euros) only transferred from foreign banks to the client’s Nigerian bank account. The funds it said were  meant for the construction of 10 modular refineries in three local government areas in an oil producing state of Nigeria.

“The law firm also wrote to the Police, EFCC and the NFIU, and appealed for discreet investigation for the tracing and recovery of the funds. An Individual also claimed to be the beneficiary of a transfer of N30, 000,000.00 (Thirty Million Naira) only. The individual claimed that the funds have been withheld by a bank in Nigeria and wrote to various agencies to investigate and help to recover funds. The agencies then requested NFIU to trace the funds for recovery” The NFIU said it remained committed to providing timely advice or guidance to its stakeholders through an evidence-based approach from relevant case studies. It added, “These case studies provide ample information on emerging trends, patterns, suspicious activities and methods intended to exploit the vulnerabilities of the financial system for illegitimate and unlawful activities. 

“This advisory became necessary due to numerous frivolous petitions received by the  NFIU from financial institutions, government agencies, and other third parties seeking assistance towards the tracing and recovery of funds transferred from foreign entities to their business partners in Nigeria. The advisory aims to draw the attention of relevant stakeholders and the general public to the red flags as well as the emerging trends that have been observed most especially the use of forged documents by fraudsters to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.”