LONDON - Online scams such as banking and credit card fraud are the most prevalent cyberthreat, says Interpolcited by The Guardian.
Police and investigators fear organised gangs of fraudsters are expanding across sub-Saharan Africa, exploiting new opportunities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis to make huge sums with little risk of being caught.
The growth will have a direct impact on the rest of the world, where many victims of “hugely lucrative” fraud live, senior police officials have said.
Experts attribute the surge in cybercrime in Africa to rapid growth of internet use at a time when police forces and criminal justice systems have been weakened by the economic consequences of a series of major challenges.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalisation around the world, but as life has shifted increasingly online, cybercriminals have exploited the opportunity to attack vital digital infrastructure,” said Prof Landry Signé, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of a recent report on the problem. “States across Africa have emerged as a favourite target of cybercriminals, with costly consequences.”
Interpol have described online scams such as banking and credit card fraud as the most prevalent and pressing cyberthreat in Africa. The Covid-19 pandemic led to a sustained increase in the volume of cyber-attacks, including more than twice as many targeting online banking platforms, analysts at the organisation have said.
A major operation earlier this month coordinated by Interpol in 14 countries underlined the scale of the threat from cybercrime on the continent and beyond. Police arrested more than 70 alleged fraudsters linked to a Nigerian criminal network known as Black Axe in South Africa, Nigeria and Ivory Coast – as well as in Europe, the Middle East, south-east Asia and the US.
Almost 50 properties were searched and about $1m intercepted in bank accounts. A residential property, three cars, tens of thousands in cash and 12,000 sim cards were seized.
The recent raids across Africa targeted alleged members of Nigeria’s infamous Black Axe gang, which began as a student movement in Benin City in the 1970s but has since evolved into a global criminal network that specialises in fraud. A regional hub in South Africa was reportedly officially recognised by the Black Axe leadership in 2013, according to US legal documents viewed by the Guardian.
More than $120m has been seized this year, denying fraudsters such as Black Axe capital that could be reinvested in other forms of crime, such as forcing young west African women into sex work in Europe, buying weapons or the growing international traffic in methamphetamines.
