NFIU Uncovers Crowdfunding, Proxy Accounts Used to Finance Terrorism

NFIU Uncovers Crowdfunding, Proxy Accounts Used to Finance Terrorism The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit has uncovered emerging methods allegedly being used by terrorist financiers to raise and move funds for operations in Nigeria, including crowdfunding, proxy bank accounts and telephone numbers linked to deceased persons. The disclosures were contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report obtained by The PUNCH. According to the report, foreign-based facilitators were using social media platforms to solicit donations under the guise of humanitarian relief or educational support before routing the funds through multiple channels to terrorist operatives in Nigeria. The agency said donors were typically encouraged to contribute between $50 and $500 through PayPal pages or conventional bank accounts, with the relatively small amounts designed to avoid triggering automated anti-money laundering alerts. The funds were subsequently pooled in a “master account” controlled by a senior member of the network based abroad. The NFIU said the money was then fragmented into smaller payments and transferred through International Money Transfer Operators and remittance applications to money mules in Nigeria. Students, small-business owners and relatives were among those identified as potential intermediaries. According to the report, the money could subsequently be converted to cash, used to purchase dual-use items such as motorcycles, fertilisers and satellite internet equipment, or transferred through mobile banking channels to logistics managers and field operatives. The NFIU described the final stage as the integration of the funds into terrorist operational financing. Women’s accounts used as proxies The agency also identified the use of women’s bank accounts as another emerging terrorism-financing technique. It said terrorist financiers were opening accounts in the names of wives, sisters or female associates while male commanders or logistics managers secretly controlled the accounts. The NFIU described the practice as “identity laundering,” noting that male operatives could retain access to ATM cards, mobile banking credentials and PINs while the women listed as account holders might not be aware of the transactions. The report further identified the use of telephone numbers that were not registered to the actual account holders or beneficiaries. According to the agency, pre-registered SIM cards, numbers belonging to deceased persons and SIMs linked to proxy account holders were being used for mobile banking and transaction alerts. The practice, it said, could make it difficult for investigators to establish the real person controlling an account by breaking the connection between bank accounts, telephone numbers and Bank Verification Numbers. The findings come amid increased monitoring of financial transactions by Nigerian authorities. The NFIU said banks, fintech companies and other reporting entities submitted 42,082 Suspicious Transaction Reports in 2025, while more than 41.7 million Currency Transaction Reports were received during the year. The latest findings highlight the growing sophistication of terrorism financing, with criminal networks increasingly exploiting legitimate financial services, digital platforms and weaknesses in identity verification to conceal the origin and movement of illicit funds.