CBN warns against fraudulent SWIFT fund transfer claims

The CBN clarified that the SWIFT documents provided as evidence are often unverifiable and not traceable on the SWIFT platform.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised concerns over a surge in fraudulent claims involving foreign currency transfers allegedly withheld by Nigerian banks or the apex bank itself.

The apex bank raised these concerns on Tuesday in a statement by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Hakama Ali.

The CBN described these allegations as spurious and warned the public against relying on fake documents, such as fabricated SWIFT MT103 messages and acknowledgment copies, often used to support these claims.

In the statement, the bank noted that several private entities, individuals, law firms, and government agencies have recently petitioned the CBN, alleging that funds sent by foreign entities were not credited to their accounts in Nigeria.

The petitioners frequently accuse either the beneficiary banks or the CBN of withholding the funds and demand assistance in their release.

“The requests are usually supported with fake documents such as SWIFT MT103, SWIFT Ack copy, etc. It has become imperative to state that the SWIFT ack copy and SWIFT MT103 that these claimants usually attach as evidence of remittance to beneficiary banks in Nigeria are not reliable,” it said.

The apex bank emphasised that in cases of uncredited funds, the appropriate recourse is for the sender to liaise with their bank to trace and recall the transaction, rather than escalating the matter to the CBN or law enforcement agencies.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN neither provides correspondent banking services for Nigerian banks in foreign payments nor maintains accounts for private business entities,” the statement read.

“Consequently, petitioners’ claims that the alleged expected inflows for onward credit into private accounts are trapped in the CBN are not only spurious but deceitful.”

The CBN further advised the public to be vigilant and sceptical of unauthentic SWIFT documents and other materials linked to claims of non-received funds.

It also warned that any bank customer found making illegitimate and unsubstantiated claims would be reported to law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution.