Banks are raising the alarm about a wave of scams, and the warning carries an uncomfortable truth: criminals are not just after the money sitting in your account. They want something potentially more dangerous — your personal information.
Your name, identity number, phone number, email address and banking details are not merely administrative details. In the wrong hands, they become tools that allow scammers to impersonate you, manufacture trust and attempt to break into your accounts. For ordinary Nigerians and consumers across the region, protecting personal data is no longer a technical concern best left to IT departments. It is now a basic financial survival skill.
The reason personal information is so valuable to criminals is straightforward. A scammer armed with even basic details about you can construct a convincing message or phone call that appears to come from your bank, a government agency, your mobile network or a retailer you use regularly. Instead of sending a clumsy, generic alert claiming there is a problem with your account, they can tailor the communication to sound authentic — referencing details that make you lower your guard.
This is the engine behind phishing and social-engineering scams, where the goal is not to hack a system but to manipulate a person. Criminals use what they know about you to get you to voluntarily hand over confidential information or approve a fraudulent transaction. Once that information is in their possession, it can fuel identity fraud, account takeover attempts and a range of other criminal schemes that may take months to unravel.
A common misconception is that scammers are only hunting for passwords, PINs or account numbers.
The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) has specifically flagged sophisticated phone-based scams as a growing threat, urging the public to treat unsolicited calls with firm scepticism. The warning is timely. Scammers are becoming more methodical, often piecing together information from multiple sources — data breaches, social media profiles and previous scam attempts — before making contact.
The practical implication is clear. Every piece of personal information you share, whether online or over the phone, carries a risk that extends well beyond the immediate transaction. Treat your personal details with the same caution you would apply to your banking credentials. Scammers have already worked out that the two are equally useful.