Seamfix, an identity management solutions company has emphasised the urgent need for robust identity verification systems to combat Nigeria’s spiralling identity theft crisis.
Mr Chimezie Emewulu, Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Seamfix, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
According to Emewulu, the implications of identity theft are far-reaching, with individuals and businesses equally vulnerable to its devastating consequences.
He said that identity theft could lead to unauthorised access, resulting in financial losses, reputational damage and legal liabilities resulting from data breaches and compromised customer information.
The Seamfix boss noted that these breaches could also come from internal parties such as staff or contractors, either by negligence or malicious actions.
Emewulu said: “Digital identity is crucial in today’s digital world, as it enables secure and efficient access to online services while protecting individuals and organisations from fraud, cyber threats and identity theft.
“A robust identity management system is essential to prevent identity theft, as there have been instances, my personal experience inclusive, where individuals have fallen victim to identity theft.”
Emewulu recounted how his father was kidnapped a few years ago, and the kidnappers sent an account number which belonged to an innocent person who had nothing to do with them for ransom payment.
He noted that the kidnappers had essentially stolen someone’s identity and used it to create a bank account to collect ransom payments.
Emewulu added that thankfully, security officials were able to rescue his father, and the innocent person’s identity was protected.
Speaking on what Seamfix was doing to tackle such issues, he said they had developed an identity and access management solution called Seamfix iAM, to govern workforce identity on a micro level.
Emewulu said that the solution added biometrics to access control, ensuring that only authorised people could access applications and platforms.
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According to the Seamfix boss, it has implemented several measures to prevent identity theft in its enrollment initiatives for national identity, SIM registration, and Know Your Customer (KYC) onboarding for financial services.
He said that the company employed AI-powered technology such as liveness detection, background clean-up, and face matching, as well as other innovations such as portrait and fingerprint deduplication.
Emewulu stressed that Seamfix had robust data encryption protocols with biometric technology to protect sensitive information from unauthorised access.
He said that the company was committed to developing identity management solutions to help people prove who they were, so they could access opportunities they deserved.
“Seamfix has partnered with government agencies to provide identity management solutions. We have worked with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to provide identity verification services.
“The partnership has enabled Seamfix to provide secure and efficient identity verification services to Nigerians, while also supporting government’s efforts to combat identity theft and promote digital inclusion,” Emewulu said.
