Access Bank launches campaign to protect teenagers from financial crimes

By Chukwuma Umeorah

Access Bank Plc has launched a financial crimes awareness campaign targeted at teenagers aged 12 to 16, seeking to equip students with the knowledge to identify scams, avoid involvement in predicate offences and adopt safer digital and financial habits.

Chief Conduct and Compliance Officer, Access Bank Plc, Solomon Abiakalam, said the initiative was informed by rising cases of financial crimes involving young Nigerians. The campaign, tagged ‘Spot The Scam’, is focused on helping young people recognise manipulation, question suspicious requests and seek help when confronted with potentially fraudulent activities as the use of social media, smartphones and online platforms increases. It combines nationwide financial crime education with a debate competition for public and private secondary schools in Lagos State.

Abiakalam recalled the arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of 792 young people in a building operating as a technology business in Victoria Island on December 10, 2024. He said the suspects were allegedly involved in activities including romance scams, hacking and money laundering, targeting victims overseas.

According to him, “such activities constitute predicate offences that generate proceeds subsequently laundered through the financial system.” He said although financial crimes are non-violent, their consequences could be more damaging than violent crimes, stressing the need to address the problem before young people become victims or perpetrators.

Abiakalam said Access Bank had, beyond regulatory compliance, implemented controls to prevent the flow of proceeds of crime through its systems, while the latest initiative was aimed at taking the fight against Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing upstream.

“If every young person in this programme knows how to protect themselves from financial crime, not to be victims or perpetrators, the future of our country will be bright,” he said stressing that the bank also wanted to raise young people who remain “unbowed,” “unbent”, and “unbroken” in the face of financial crime pressures.

The campaign is designed to address common methods used by fraudsters to target young people, including fake giveaways, free data and airtime offers, gaming rewards, fake job and scholarship offers, celebrity impersonation, account verification messages, investment opportunities and false claims of winning prizes.

The Head, Regulatory and Financial Crime Compliance at Access Bank, Inyang Etim, said preventing financial crimes required cooperation among schools, parents, financial institutions, telecommunications companies and government agencies.
Etim said “parents have an important role to play by creating an environment where children could report suspicious experiences without fear or shame.”

The Head, SME Banking, Access Bank, Abiodun Olubitan, said fraudsters often targeted children through games, small rewards, recharge cards and fake celebrity profiles on social media. She said the bank’s regular Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Counter Proliferation Financing (CPF) training for employees should also extend to children at the grassroots.

Representing the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Ronke Matuluko said the ministry’s policy ensured that no child was left behind, adding that guidance counsellors in schools were available to advise students on avoiding scams.

The campaign encourages students to pause before responding to messages that create excitement, fear or pressure to act immediately, with the instruction: “STOP. THINK. CHECK.”

The education programme will run until December 2026, while the debate competition will progress from the preliminary stage to a grand finale in December. Schools participating in the competition are expected to submit their debate entry videos by September 30, 2026.

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