He also said that in the same year, about 71 international companies left Nigeria because fraudsters hacked their accounts.
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has said that in 2022, Nigeria lost not less than $500 million to the activities of fraudsters popularly known as Yahoo Boys.
He also said that in the same year, about 71 international companies left Nigeria because fraudsters hacked their accounts.
Olukoyede said this while speaking at the occasion where the Global Peace Movement International (GPMI), an international organisation conferred him with the “Man of Valour” Award.
Speaking on the negative impact of internet crimes, Olukoyede said, “In 2022, we lost over $500million in our economy to yahoo boys. The statistics are there. In the same year, about 71 international companies left Nigeria because they hacked their accounts.
“We can’t get credit cards in Nigeria because of our poor credit rating because of the activities of these cyber criminals, so the best we can get is debit cards.
“Do you know that there are some international merchants that you cannot use Nigerian cards on their platforms?
“Display your Green Passport outside the country and see if they will not take you aside and search you thoroughly.”
Bewailing the scourge of corruption in the country, Olukoyede promised not to disappoint Nigerians and not to spare the corrupt.
According to him, for every N10 the EFCC recovers, more than N50 has been stolen and to recover that N10, there is a need for approximately N2.50k.
He therefore restated the commitment of his administration to the pursuit of preventive frameworks to tackle corruption.
He said, “We decided to go by the way of prevention and I set up a directorate of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control (FRAC).
“With this Directorate, we are going into MDAs and monitor real time the implementation of budgets. As money is being released, we will be tracking it.”
Olukoyede charged Nigerians to fully embrace the fight against economic and financial crimes in the overall interests of the nation.