Union Bank of Nigeria is facing a major crisis following a massive fraud, with customers losing a total of ₦9.3 billion.
The incident, caused by a breach in the bank’s core banking system, saw unauthorized transfers made from customer accounts to various accounts across 53 different financial institutions.
The fraud was first noticed on March 23, 2025, when Union Bank identified that a substantial amount of money had been debited from customer accounts without authorization.
The bank immediately initiated a recovery effort, involving legal action in the Federal High Court, seeking an order to prevent further movements of the stolen funds and to trace them back to the involved financial institutions.
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The fraud was attributed to a system glitch and exploitation, which allowed funds to be transferred in small amounts to multiple beneficiary accounts. Union Bank is now working to recover the stolen funds by tracking the flow of money and has already informed the relevant institutions to restrict access to the recipient accounts.
The incident has raised concerns about the security of Nigeria’s banking system, especially with the growing number of interbank transactions. Financial experts suggest that outdated systems and lack of proper oversight may have contributed to this security lapse, heightening the risks of similar fraudulent activities in the future.
Despite the ongoing investigations, Union Bank has not responded to media inquiries as of the time of reporting.
