THE HIGH RATE OF CYBERCRIME IN NIGERIA

The situation with Nigeria regarding cybercrime and internet use and abuses is appalling where Nigerian youths engage in cybercrimes as a tool to survive. In as much as poverty, unemployment, lack of wealth, lack of strong cybercrime laws have been the reasons for many who are involved and arrested in such crimes. The government have not played her part in reducing poverty through social programs, many of these programs are not accessed by major timidly Nigerians but only few who are opportune to, it is

The estimated annual financial loss in Nigeria due to cybercrime was N250 billion ($649 million) in 2017 and N288 billion ($800 million) in 2018. The same year, in the US, roughly 62,000 people age 60 or older reported losses totaling over $649 million. In two months, the Anti-Scam Centre received 1,047 cases in which victims had lost a total of $2.4 million ($1.8 million). The center managed to freeze 815 bank accounts and recovered 35% of the amount lost, or about S$840,000 ($623,000) - which is significantly higher than the average recovery rates for these types of scams. In 2018, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received 59,009 fraud reports from victims and businesses, with losses reported totaling $97,654,160.35. However, the center estimates that less than 5% of fraud victims file a report, which poses a challenge in its ability to provide current information on ways to prevent similar attacks. The Dubai Financial Services Authority initiated a cyber threat intelligence platform in partnership with the Dubai Electronic Security Centre, the National Computer Emergency Response Team, and the Computer Incident Response Centre (based in Luxembourg). The platform is scheduled to go live in January 2020. The platform will harbor an ecosystem that encourages information exchange and offers enhanced cyber threat intelligence solutions. Thus, all participants across industries must partake in an open dialogue about cybersecurity. This is in a bid to reduce the information asymmetry in the economy.

Recently, A Nigerian was arrested who is known as an Instagram influencer attracted millions of followers with pictures of a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle that has been arrested by Dubai police amid claims of a £350m cyberscam. Raymond Abbas – a Nigerian known to his 2.4 million Instagram followers as “Hushpuppi” – was detained on Thursday night as part of an investigation into money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking and scamming. Eleven other suspects were detained during coordinated early morning raids on June 6th, 2020 in an operation comprised of officers from the FBI, Interpol, and Dubai police.

Detectives seized more than 150 million dirhams (£30 million) when they swooped on the 38-year-old's apartment as he slept. Investigators allege Abbas, a former second-hand clothes trader in Nigeria‘s capital Lagos, used his Instagram account to project a billionaire’s luxurious lifestyle to attract followers and lure in potential victims. Officers say they found the email addresses of nearly two million victims on dozens of phones, computers, and hard drives. More than a dozen luxury cars were seized in the raid along with suitcases full of cash.“After verifying available information, the team [tracked] the gang including ‘Hushpuppi’, who celebrated his wealth via social media under a businessman facade, in an attempt to lure victims from all over the world,” Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, director of the criminal investigation department of Dubai Police, said in a statement.“The suspects also targeted victims overseas by creating fake websites for well-known companies and banks in a bid to steal victims’ credit card information and then launder the stolen money.”Investigators say they recovered documents evidencing fraud “on a global scale” worth 1.6 billion dirhams (£352 million).

The operation, codenamed Fox Hunt 2, came after months of investigation into the group’s activities. Mr. Al Jallaf said that detectives in the anti-cybercrime task force were able to track down gang members through false accounts they had created on social media. Mr. Abbas, whose arrest reportedly came after he added a white Rolls Royce to his fleet of luxury cars, once posted a video of himself throwing $100 bills as confetti at a wedding.
By: Moore Tolulope