Concerns as more Nigerians face phishing scams via digital payments

•98% think banks, payment companies should educate users more
There have been huge concerns as more Nigerians, who are embracing the various digital platforms for payments and other services are facing scams and getting hugely exposed to fraudsters.

Kaspersky Digital Payment survey, which raises the alarm, informed that 61 per cent of respondents from Nigeria faced phishing scams when using online banking or mobile wallet services. 67 per cent have personally encountered fake websites, and a staggering 82 per cent experienced scams (via texts or calls) using social engineering.

When asked about awareness of threats against digital payment methods, majority of respondents from Nigeria said they are aware of both the financial phishing attacks (95 per cent) and online scams (97 per cent). 78 per cent also stated that they are informed about banking malware on PCs and on mobile. This type of malicious software steals money from users’ bank accounts.

However, 98 per cent, according to the report, think that banks and payment companies should educate users more about the threats online. When it comes to a list of security features that consumers would like to see more on existing banking apps and mobile wallets, survey results showed that the following are of importance to them: the implementation of one-time-passwords (OTPs) via SMS for every transaction (76 per cent); biometric security features like facial or fingerprint recognition (75 per cent); requiring two-factor authentication (64 per cent); automated detection and intervention for fraudulent transactions (39 per cent) and point-to-point encryption (22 per cent).

Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa, Bethwel Opil, said: “Whether we talk about proliferation of phishing scams or mobile malware, it is important to establish some basic cybersecurity standards. advanced security solutions, which are able to filter out most of the generic attack vectors, supplemented with other preventive measures, such as good cybersecurity awareness and regular password changes, can help to keep your financial transactions secure.”

To help users in Nigeria embrace digital payment technologies securely, Kaspersky experts suggested that they among others do not share their PINs, passwords or any other financial information with anyone online or offline; avoid using public Wi-Fi to make any online transactions; use a separate credit or debit card to make online transactions; set a spending limit on the card which can help keep a track of financial transactions; shop from trusted and official websites and use a reliable security solution such as Kaspersky Total Security on all your devices, which are used for financial transactions because it helps to detect fraudulent or suspicious activity and check the security of visited websites.

On the other hand, for developers, banks and companies involved in providing digital payment services, Kaspersky recommended that they invest in holistic cybersecurity solutions that can help detect fraud across multiple levels of online payment processes and consumer touchpoint.

It pointed out that advanced attacks by APT groups on financial institutions are also on a rise, as such in-depth visibility and threat intelligence are a necessity to keep customers protected and to ensure business continuity.

The firm noted that using the Kaspersky Threat Intelligence service is helpful to support IT teams in analysing and mitigating threats; conduct cyber awareness training for employees continuously.

“This will help employees know the red flags to look for when an organization is under attack and to understand their role in protecting the organization,” it stated.

On the survey methodology, the Kaspersky Digital Payment survey studies interactions with online payments. It also examined our attitudes towards them, which hold the key to understanding the factors that will further drive or stem the adoption of this technology.

Kaspersky disclosed that the study was conducted by research agency Toluna across the Middle East, Turkey, South Africa, and Nigeria. Survey responses were gathered in February — March 2022 with a total of 2,004 respondents surveyed across the stated countries.