Cybercriminals are using a variety of ways, including swapping of mobile phone SIM cards, to defraud Nigerians of their hard earned money, the National Information Technology Development Agency has said.
In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, the Director General, NITDA, Dr Isa Ibrahim, said given the increasing incidences of fraud through the cyberspace, it had become imperative to enlighten Nigerians on how the criminals were operating.
He listed a number of ways through which the criminals obtain information from their potential victims, including swapping of SIM cards to ensure that victims were not alerted when their funds were being stolen through online banking transactions.
Ibrahim said, “There has been a tremendous increase in the number of incidences where Nigerians have lost money and data through vulnerabilities arising from lack of knowledge on how to manage their online presence and personal details.
“The cybercriminals use social engineering, phishing mails, and probably specific to Nigeria, the use of text messages pretending to be sent from banks, requesting for PIN or revalidation of Bank Verification Numbers. Read more