How terrorists use dead people’s SIM cards to raise funds – NFIU

Tuesday, August 25, 2026 -The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, has disclosed that terrorists and extremist groups are currently using the SIM cards of dead people to raise illicit funds for their criminal activities.

This is contained in the agency’s 2026 Annual report released on Monday.

The NFIU equally stated that terrorist financiers were also opening bank accounts in women’s names and using phone numbers for mobile banking or account alerts that were not registered to the account holders or actual beneficiaries.

The agency’s report showed that the crowdfunding schemes involved foreign-based facilitators using social media platforms to solicit donations under the guise of humanitarian relief or educational support before moving the funds through multiple layers to terrorist operatives in Nigeria.

According to the report, hundreds of sympathisers were encouraged to make contributions ranging from $50 to $500 through PayPal pages or conventional bank accounts, with the amounts deliberately kept low to avoid triggering automated anti-money laundering alerts.

The agency, while explaining the method, revealed that foreign-based facilitators ran social media campaigns seeking donations for purported humanitarian or educational causes and used encrypted messaging applications to distribute links to payment pages and bank accounts.

It further indicated that the funds were pooled in master accounts controlled by senior members of the groups living legally abroad.

“Terrorists are now using dead people’s SIM cards to raise funds. When the pool reaches a threshold, that account becomes the hub for onward movement.

“The funds would subsequently be fragmented into dozens of smaller payments and transferred through International Money Transfer Operators and remittance applications to a network of money mules in Nigeria,” the report stated.

NFIU is a financial intelligence unit responsible for collecting and analysing disclosures from reporting organizations to produce intelligence for agencies combating money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes.