Equity Bank Uganda has said it is investigating an incident where their customer lost sh47m in an alleged fraud.
“Dear Customers, Attention is brought to the issue circulating on social media. We wish to confirm that the incident has been given due attention and is being handled with the seriousness it deserves,” Equity Bank said.
The statement added: “While we cannot divulge customer information, we reassure our customers and the general public that the matter has been noted and due process is being followed to resolve the same. This includes collaborating with the relevant investigative authorities. We are also in close contact with the customer to ensure that the matter is brought to closure.”
This comes after Rose Ahebwa claimed she lost sh47m on her Equity Bank account on 18th December, 2022.
she said she was looking into an empty account after going to make a withdraw.
She said her attempts to get help from the bank were futile as she was tossed everywhere. She has also since sought the services of a lawyer.
Cases of fraud at Equity Bank are not new. In 2021, Edith Nakacwa lost sh21.9m from her account, which was done using Eazzy Money App which she never initiated. The bank eventually refunded her money.
According to a 2020 report by Summit Project Frontline, the annual cost of cybercrime in Uganda for the 2019/20 financial year stood at sh11.4b.
The cost also include other associated expenses such as incident response, investigations and reputational damage. According to the report, during the period, the combined value of the economic crime cases handled stood at slightly more than sh171b, with an average of sh379m direct loss per case.
It is worth noting that many cyber incidents in Uganda (and the East African Community at large) go unreported to protect the reputation of affected entities.
In 2019, it was reported that close to sh9b was lost in a cyber-attack that targeted banks, mobile money operators and payment aggregators.
The 2020 Uganda Police Annual Crime report– indicates that obtaining money by false pretences was the highest crime reported under the category of economic crimes, followed by forgeries and cyber related crimes.
