Fake Bank Alerts: How Nigerians Can Detect and Avoid Payment Scams in 2026Source: UGCAccording to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), banks and other financial institutions lost N25.85 billion to digital payment fraud in 2025, down 51 per cent from N52.26 billion recorded in 2024. NIBSS, however, said social engineering remained the most common fraud technique, with threats including insider abuse, SIM-swap fraud, account compromise and phishing continuing to evolve. How fake bank alerts workFake bank alerts typically involve fraudsters attempting to convince a merchant that a payment has been made when no money has actually entered the recipient's account. Seven ways to detect and prevent fake bank alerts1. Fake Bank Alerts: How Nigerians Can Detect and Avoid Payment Scams in 2026Source: UGC4.