UBA fraud prevention takes centre stage as the bank urges vigilance and customer empowerment at the close of its 2025 Fraud Awareness Week in Lagos

United Bank for Africa has called for sustained vigilance and a strong fraud-prevention culture as part of its UBA fraud prevention campaign, rounding off the 2025 Fraud Awareness Week at its Lagos headquarters on Friday.

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The event, themed Combating Fraud-Risk and Cybertheft in Digital Banking, underscored the urgent need for collective action as financial crimes continue to evolve.

Speaking at the grand finale, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, represented by the Executive Director for Finance and Risk Management, Ugochukwu Nwaghodoh, said the bank’s approach to tackling fraud must remain continuous.

He noted that fraud prevention strengthens trust and protects customers, adding that this year’s activities had further deepened safeguards at every customer touch point. He urged staff and partners to uphold UBA’s integrity across its operations and remain alert.

The acting Chief Internal Auditor, Kayode Ajayi, described the fight against fraud as progressive and emphasised that the bank had both the will and resources to champion the effort.

He cautioned that fraud does not discriminate and remains a persistent trend, urging customers and staff to avoid complacency.

Keynote speaker, Professor Godwin Oyedokun, said fraud was never accidental but always planned. He advised individuals to stay wary of their close circles and highlighted that the mere perception of detection remains the greatest deterrent.

He urged banks to secure internal processes and treat customer protection as a strategic priority.

During a highly engaging panel session, expert Adebayo Adebeshin pointed out that every innovation comes with a trade-off between convenience and security, warning that fraudsters now possess knowledge levels comparable to security professionals.

Another panellist, Fiyinfolu Okedare, stressed the power of customer education, calling it a largely untapped fraud-detection tool.

He said customers must evolve from being passive victims to proactive defenders, especially in detecting phishing attempts.

Contributor Bright Anyanwu added that increased information sharing has expanded fraud risks, saying innovation must go hand in hand with robust security.

He urged banks to adopt security-by-design principles and conduct custom testing for new products to prevent exploitation.

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The bank reaffirmed that its UBA Fraud Prevention initiative will remain a central pillar in its operations, describing customer empowerment as a truly powerful weapon against emerging cyberthreats.