Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Data from Kaspersky showed that 7 per cent of Nigerian computer users fell for phishing attacks in 2022, as the company’s anti-phishing system prevented more than 500 million attempts at accessing fraudulent websites globally in 2022. This is twice more compared to 2021 figures.
In Africa, 8.7 per cent of individuals and corporate users were affected by phishing attacks on their devices, with South African users affected the most by phishing.
For the country, attacks stood at 9.7 per cent, followed by Kenya at 8.4 per cent, followed by Nigeria’s 7 per cent.
In Kaspersky’s Spam and Phishing in 2022 Report, the company’s anti-phishing system successfully blocked 507,851,735 attempts to access fraudulent content globally in 2022, twice the number of attacks thwarted in 2021.
The company’s experts discovered that throughout 2022 cybercriminals increasingly turned to phishing.
“The sphere most frequently targeted with phishing attacks was delivery services. Fraudsters send fake emails pretending to be from well-known delivery companies and claim there is an issue with delivery. The email includes a link to a fake website, which asks for personal information or financial details. If the victim falls for the scam, they could lose their identity and banking information, which may be sold to websites on the dark web.”
Giving a breakdown, the report indicated that financial phishing was the most commonly targeted category, with online stores and online financial services being the affected businesses.
Among the financial phishing attempts in Nigeria, 31.1 per cent were through websites of fake payment systems, 51.2 per cent through fake online stores, and 17.8 per cent through fake online bank portals.
Kaspersky experts have also highlighted a global trend in the phishing landscape of 2022: an increase in the distribution of attacks through messengers, with the majority of blocked attempts coming from WhatsApp, followed by Telegram and Viber.
There is also growing demand among cybercriminals for social media credentials, with criminals exploiting people’s curiosity and desire for privacy by offering fake updates and verified account statuses on social media platforms.
Moreover, the experts found that cryptocurrency scams and market events, like the pandemic, are still being used by phishing attackers to steal sensitive information from people who are afraid and worried. These scammers are taking advantage of people’s fears and concerns to steal their sensitive information.
Speaking on this, Mr Olga Svistunova, a security expert at Kaspersky, said, “Phishing is one of the most prevalent and pernicious threats in the cybersecurity landscape. Being the gateway to many of the worst cyber threats, phishing pages are the first step in a long chain of events that can result in identity theft, financial loss, and reputational damage for both individual consumers and businesses. It’s crucial for everyone to understand the threat and take action to protect themselves.”
In order to avoid becoming a victim of spam or phishing-based scams, Kaspersky experts advise that users only open emails and click links if they are sure they can trust the sender, check the spelling of a website’s URL if they suspect that they are faced with a phishing page, and also check the legitimacy of the sender.
It also encouraged the use of a proven security solution when surfing the web, which is capable of spotting and blocking spam and phishing campaigns.
