Abuja – Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has warned that cryptocurrency laundering, ransomware attacks and artificial intelligence-enabled fraud are creating a dangerous new front in financial crime, urging banks to report cyberattacks immediately before criminals erase evidence, move stolen funds across borders and frustrate investigations.
Disu said the transformation of criminal activities from conventional street-level offences to sophisticated digital operations had exposed financial institutions, businesses and individuals to threats that increasingly transcend national boundaries.
Represented by Assistant Inspector-General of Police Uche Ifeanyi Henry of the Department of Training and Development, the police chief raised the alarm while delivering a presentation titled “From AI-Enabled Cybercrime to Cross-Border Crypto Laundering: Building Resilient Digital Investigations”* at the second edition of the International Cybersecurity Conference.
He warned that criminals were exploiting artificial intelligence, internet-connected devices and complex financial technologies to infiltrate banking systems, impersonate trusted individuals, steal sensitive information and conceal illicit proceeds.
The emerging threat, he said, demands a fundamental shift in how law enforcement agencies, banks and technology companies detect, report and investigate financial crimes.
“The trend is no longer the same. The armed robbers we used to have on the streets have moved from the streets into the operational room,” Disu said.
His remarks highlighted a growing challenge for security agencies: financial crime is no longer confined to physical locations, as perpetrators can manipulate digital identities, compromise computer systems and transfer funds across jurisdictions without directly confronting their victims.
Disu identified AI-generated deepfakes, identity theft, phishing, business impersonation, disinformation and ransomware among the methods increasingly deployed by cybercriminals.
He warned that artificial intelligence could be used to create convincing images, videos and voice recordings of prominent personalities and corporate executives, enabling fraudsters to impersonate trusted authorities and deceive unsuspecting victims into transferring money or surrendering confidential information.
Such schemes, he indicated, pose a serious challenge to conventional verification procedures because fabricated digital identities can make fraudulent instructions appear legitimate.
For banks and businesses, the implications extend beyond individual customers losing money. Compromised credentials, manipulated communications and unauthorised access to financial systems can expose organisations to operational disruption, data breaches and reputational damage.
The Police Chief therefore called for closer collaboration between financial institutions, technology providers and law enforcement agencies to strengthen digital verification, improve intelligence sharing and develop more effective investigative capabilities.
The IGP expressed particular concern over ransomware attacks, in which criminals infiltrate computer systems, encrypt critical information and demand payment before promising to restore access.
He warned that the failure of some financial institutions to report cyber incidents promptly could delay investigations and give perpetrators additional time to move stolen funds, conceal their identities or destroy digital evidence.
“When it is not reported, how can they get help?” he asked.
Disu stressed that immediate notification of relevant authorities was critical to enabling investigators to assess incidents, trace suspicious transactions, assist affected customers and contain further damage.
He also cautioned organisations against assuming that paying ransom would guarantee the recovery of encrypted data or the return of stolen assets.
Drawing a comparison with kidnapping, he explained that ransomware perpetrators hold valuable information hostage to extract payments, leaving victims exposed to uncertainty even after meeting the criminals’ demands.
Beyond direct financial losses, the consequences could include the destruction or exposure of sensitive information, interruption of essential services and disruption of business operations.
The warning places incident reporting at the centre of the police chief’s proposed response, with delays potentially undermining the ability of investigators to follow digital trails before they disappear or become harder to trace.
Disu also identified cryptocurrency laundering as a major investigative challenge, particularly where criminals use crypto mixers and tumblers to obscure the origins and movement of digital assets.
These services can combine or redistribute cryptocurrency transactions in ways that make it more difficult to establish the original source of funds, identify beneficiaries and recover proceeds linked to criminal activity.
The challenge becomes more complex when suspected offenders move assets through multiple jurisdictions, requiring investigators to obtain information and coordinate action across different legal systems.
“The speed of financial crime today is astronomical, and the victims are not limited by borders, whereas our law enforcement response is slow,” Disu said.
He warned that bureaucratic bottlenecks and delays in international cooperation could give criminals a critical advantage, particularly when digital assets are transferred rapidly across borders.
He consequently called for stronger international engagement and streamlined investigative procedures to improve the speed of information exchange and strengthen efforts to trace and recover illicit funds.
The IGP’s concern reflects the difficulty law enforcement agencies face when the speed of digital transactions outpaces the processes required to secure evidence, identify suspects and obtain cross-border assistance.
Disu said criminal networks were becoming increasingly organised, deploying specialised skills and advanced technologies to evade detection.
He also raised concern over the recruitment of young people, including underage individuals, into cybercriminal activities, calling for sustained enforcement and preventive measures to address the problem.
He warned that the damage caused by financial crime extends beyond the immediate loss of money, threatening public confidence in digital payments, discouraging investment, undermining innovation and weakening financial inclusion.
“Trust is invisible, yet every financial transaction depends on it,” he said.
The police chief called for greater investment in digital forensics, intelligence sharing and technology-driven investigations to help security agencies identify suspicious activities and respond more effectively to sophisticated cyber threats.
He argued that law enforcement agencies must match criminals’ growing use of artificial intelligence with equally advanced tools capable of detecting emerging threats and identifying suspicious patterns before attacks escalate.
“Our response must be predictive, not just reactive; automated, not just manual; and intelligence-driven, not just word-based,” Disu said.
His proposed approach signals a shift from investigating cybercrime only after losses have occurred towards earlier threat detection, faster information exchange and more coordinated responses among public and private-sector stakeholders.
For financial institutions, the central message is that cyberattacks must not remain isolated internal incidents. Prompt reporting, effective evidence preservation and collaboration with investigators can be critical to tracing criminal activity and limiting further losses.
Disu urged stakeholders to strengthen partnerships, improve technical capacity and prioritise early detection as Nigeria confronts increasingly sophisticated forms of digital financial crime.
The broader challenge, as outlined at the conference, is to build an investigative system capable of keeping pace with criminals who can exploit artificial intelligence, conceal cryptocurrency transactions and operate across borders.
Without timely reporting, stronger digital forensics and more effective international cooperation, the gap between the speed of cybercrime and the ability to investigate it could continue to provide organised criminal networks with opportunities to evade detection.
The Police Chief’s message was clear: in a financial system increasingly dependent on digital trust, delayed reporting and outdated investigative methods can give cybercriminals the advantage.