Adhere, an artificial intelligence-powered compliance and fraud prevention platform, has unveiled a new report highlighting the changing nature of financial fraud in Nigeria, warning that financial institutions must strengthen their compliance architecture to withstand increasingly sophisticated threats.
The report, titled “The Compliance Reckoning: Regulating Financial Services in the Age of AI,” was launched on Friday at the Adhere Compliance Frontline Forum 2026, themed “The Trust Frontier,” in Lagos. The event was organised in partnership with research and media platform TechCabal.
According to the report, reported digital payment fraud losses in Nigeria declined from ₦52.26 billion in 2024 to ₦25.85 billion in 2025. However, it noted that the reduction masks a worrying trend, with fraud losses increasing by approximately 350 per cent since 2020, despite a 31 per cent decline in the number of reported cases, indicating that attacks have become fewer but more sophisticated and financially damaging.
The report also placed Nigeria’s experience within the global financial landscape, estimating worldwide fraud losses at $442 billion in 2025. It found that AI-enhanced fraud is approximately 4.5 times more profitable than traditional fraud methods.
