‘Reason Why Online Fraud Is Rising Globally’

The accelerated drive towards digitisation has been identified as a major reason for the global uptick in online fraud. Speaking during the Global Business Report segment on Arise TV, Co-founder/Chief Executive Officer, of QoreID, Esigie Aguele, noted that the trend is expected to grow as more people migrate towards digital transactions.

He said: “With the growing adoption of digital platforms by individuals and businesses, coupled with governments’ intensified efforts to establish a robust digital economy, the ripple effect has been a sharp rise in online fraud.

According to the Interpol Global Crime Trend Report 2022, the menace will likely escalate as, ‘organised crime groups and criminal networks appear to be as resourceful and resilient as ever, having proven their ability to rapidly adapt and seize new opportunities,’ offered by technology.

Confronted by the new reality, Aguele said African FinTech founders must match their appetite for digital innovation with a reinforced commitment towards securing their systems against fraud.

He said founders must brace up to the challenge of mitigating fraud within the system from both an operational standpoint and through industry-wide collaboration.

This means that as they adjust their operational framework, there has to be a corresponding industry-wide push to harness data and other resources.

“They must also build strategic partnerships with trusted KYC companies to benefit from the enterprise reporting environment the latter offers which is a critical first layer to vetting customers at the point of onboarding. For instance, QoreID enables access to an ecosystem of functional data layered on identity. The platform offers critical analytics on customers such as financial profiling, location, risk assessment and employment histories, which all combine to strengthen our customers’ systems against fraud.”

“Another thing we would like to see is a government-private sector-driven fraud reporting platform.

The idea is to have a centralised platform that is regulated but not owned by the government and allows for information sharing between key stakeholders,” he added.