IN SHORT: While the country's main bank would want to protect Nigerians from bank account fraud, a guide purporting to be from it is more likely to get the faithful into trouble.

Has the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published a step-by-step guide on how Nigerians can protect their accounts from hackers?

That's the claim in a Facebook post, dated 28 April 2023, of what appears to be a screenshot of a CBN statement.

The headline reads: "CBN against bank account hackers". It goes on to give instructions on how you can freeze your account should you be targeted by online scammers or your phone be stolen.

The claim also appears here and here.

Such information may easily go viral, given that it claims to be from the country's financial services regulator. And if the information is incorrect, many who follow it could fall victim to fraudsters.

So is this an official CBN statement?

CBN rubbishes 'fake' statement

Whenever the CBN issues a statement, it will always include its logo. The absence of this on the screenshot should be an immediate red flag that the statement is not from the bank.

The statement also has grammatical errors, which is uncharacteristic of an institution of the bank's standing.

On 28 April, the central bank tweeted that the statement was fake.

"It is important to be cautious and vigilant of fake news, pages, or accounts run by individuals with ill intentions posing as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)," it said.