Stop aiding fraudsters, terrorists, EFCC warns PoS operators
Kemi Aina
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has put Point of Sale, PoS, operators on notice, warning that failure to properly monitor transactions and keep adequate records could make their platforms vulnerable to exploitation by fraudsters, money launderers, terrorists and ransom handlers.
Olukoyede gave the warning on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, when a delegation of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, AMMBAN, led by its National President, Oti Obioha, paid a courtesy visit to the EFCC headquarters.
The EFCC chairman, who spoke through his Chief of Staff and Commander of the EFCC, Michael Nzekwe, said the association needed to strengthen its structure and establish a comprehensive framework for monitoring its members and preventing the misuse of PoS machines.
According to him, the absence of adequate records and monitoring mechanisms among PoS operators was making it easier for fraudsters to exploit the platform to perpetrate financial crimes.
“We have realised that the issues of money laundering, terrorist financing, and even ransom payments are made mostly from POS machines. Your association needs to do more by coming up with a structure and a comprehensive framework that will have records of all your operators, so that during the course of investigation, we will be able to trace, monitor and have records that can aid us.”
Olukoyede also questioned the impact of the association’s activities on its members, particularly in the areas of training, record-keeping and awareness of financial crimes.
“My question is, what is the impact of your association on the members? Do you train your members? Do you have records of the addresses of your members? I think you need to have more awareness and training for your members.”
He further alleged that some PoS operators were directly involved in fraudulent activities by providing assistance and information to criminals.
“There are even some POS operators who are actually fraudsters; they aid, conspire, give out information and abet fraudsters.”
The EFCC chairman said investigators often encountered difficulties tracing funds transferred through PoS operators due to inadequate transaction records.
“Most times, in the course of investigation, when you find out that money was laundered through a POS operator, by the time you bring them in, they won’t even know the person who sent the money and who withdrew it—no records of the transactions—and no one is asking questions.”
Olukoyede urged AMMBAN to put measures in place to ensure that operators maintained proper financial records for every transaction, while also keeping comprehensive records of members across the country.
“You need to put your house in order and do more,” he said.
The EFCC chairman, however, expressed the commission’s readiness to collaborate with AMMBAN in the areas of training, awareness creation and information sharing to strengthen compliance and prevent financial crimes within the sector.
Responding, Obioha thanked the EFCC for granting the association the opportunity to engage with the commission, noting that the activities of PoS and mobile money agents had significant financial implications that required closer cooperation with the anti-graft agency.
“We deem it fit to present ourselves to help and work with the EFCC in preventing money laundering and other kinds of fraud.”
Obioha said the association operated at the grassroots and had observed that the EFCC frequently invited its members in the course of investigations.
He said AMMBAN was seeking a formal partnership with the commission that would enable it to train its members on financial thresholds, operational requirements and the risks associated with their activities.
“We are at the grassroots and we observe that your institution is always inviting our members, so we wish we can have a partnership that can see to the training of our members on some of the issues like financial thresholds and the risks involved in some of our operations.”
He added that the association was willing to work with the EFCC to reduce fraud in the sector, particularly through sustained training and awareness campaigns.
“We want to collaborate in the areas of training, because most of our agents don’t know the rules of our operations. So, we need to partner in creating awareness,” he said.
