Theme: Combating E-Fraud on Telecom Platform: Building Consumer
Confidence in the Digital Economy
Protocol:
The Nigerian Communications Act (NCA 2003) generally provides for the
protection and promotion of interests of Consumers including Differently
Abled Persons and the Elderly. Pursuant to the NCA 2003, the
Commission, driven by its Consumer-centric initiatives to ensure fair
treatment as well as an acceptable Quality of Experience for consumers of
ICT products and services, established the Industry Consumer Advisory
Forum (ICAF).
ICAF is not completely independent of the Commission but has been
established as part of the Commissions strategy to achieve its mandate for
protection and promotion of the interests of Consumers against unfair
practices; including but not limited to matters relating to tariffs and charges
for the availability of quality communications services, equipment and
facilities.
On behalf of the entire membership of the Industry Consumer Advisory
Forum (ICAF) of the NCC, I wish to once again welcome you all to the 2023
open forum of the NCC which tends to bring together the Regulators,
Service Providers and Consumers of Telecommunication Products and
Services.
I sincerely want to appreciate the NCC for keeping this forum going and for
the untiring activities of the members of ICAF that are representatives of
different groups and organizations representing our esteemed consumers.
Most importantly, I wish to appreciate ICAF members for coming up with
this Theme which is apt and could not have come at a better time than now.
Fraud has escalated as digital adoption has increased. The situation
requires that organizations simultaneously combat fraud and provide
customers with a seamless digital experience.
Digital adoption leapfrogged a decade in days during the COVID-19
pandemic, accelerating the shift to digital and multichannel client service
that began in the 2010s. The pandemic-driven boost to e-commerce is
estimated to have exceeded $200 billion in 2020 and 2021.
Increased digital adoption has enabled new forms of fraudulent activity and
amplified the importance of effective fraud management for promoting
growth and meeting customers’ increasing expectations for digital
experiences. Although most companies have improved their digital user
interface and experience, many have struggled to effectively enhance fraud
controls without impairing the client experience.
Many organizations report that they are being overwhelmed by the sheer
volume of fraud attempts. In financial services, for example, many banks
are so inundated by fraudsters that they cannot meet online origination
targets; they are unable to verify identities and authenticate customers
while combating fraud.
At the same time, fraud threat vectors have become significantly more
sophisticated. They include nation-state actors, organized criminals, cyber
terrorists, and insiders, as well as local fraud rings. Advances in technology
present challenges as fraud attacks occur with greater frequency, speed,
and effectiveness. Commonly used methods include phishing (Phishing
occurs when a hacker pose as a trusted figure who uses carefully created
emails to trick you into visiting a malicious website, downloading a corrupt
file or handing over your password before using that information to gain
access to a business network or your personal information), destructive
malware, social engineering, deep fakes, and fraud-as-a-service exploit
kits.
Faster movement of money usually increases the risk of fraud, and real-
time disbursements are set to double within the year and beyond as
economic hardship gets tougher. Risk rises further when unsuspecting
customers inadvertently share their authentication details with fraudsters
targeting their devices and accounts.
The evolution of fraud threats has undermined the effectiveness of a
reactive approach to combating fraud, which essentially focuses on
stopping schemes one by one through manual reviews.
The 2023 2 nd quarter open forum of the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum
(ICAF) decided to bring this issue to bear as it affects consumers a great
deal. In this edition, we intend to propose a new approach on Combatting
E-Fraud on the Telecommunication Platforms and ways of Building
Consumer Confidence in the Digital Economy and we believe with the
retinue of experts here present, we intend to achieve this goal using the
current realities of this time to strengthen the core capabilities and improve
our abilities to continually identify and address vulnerabilities arising from
new fraud methods and patterns.
Distinguished guests, ICAF members, our friends from the media, ladies
and gentlemen, may I once again welcome you to this epoch-making event
and I wish us all a fruitful deliberation.
Thank you.
Mazi Akpa E. Emeka
ICAF CHAIRMAN
