Internet crime: Nigeria and South Africa on FBI list

Nigeria and South Africa are on the list of countries singled out for Internet crime. The 2020 Internet Crime Report indicates that reported losses exceeded $4.2 billion (over CFAF 2,306 billion).

The Internet has its advantages and disadvantages. Some ill-intentioned individuals take advantage of this technology to commit the most heinous crimes. Specific statistics that can be found in the 2020 Internet Crime Report, include information on 791,790 complaints of suspected Internet crime, an increase of over 300,000 complaints from 2019.

Reported losses also exceeded $4.2 billion (over FCFA 2,306 billion). Nigeria and South Africa were among the ‘worst’ 20. South Africa was ranked 6th with 1,754 victims, while Nigeria had 443 victims. Countries such as Pakistan, China, Colombia and Hong Kong ranked higher than Nigeria.

Phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams and extortion were the top three crimes reported by victims in 2020, and it was also reported that victims lost the most money to professional email scams, love and trust schemes and investment fraud.

There is also the emergence of scams exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic. IC3 has received over 28,500 Covid-19-related complaints, with fraudsters targeting both businesses and individuals.

The top 20 on the FBI list

1st UK; 2nd Canada; 3rd India; 4th Greece; 5th Australia; 6th South Africa; 7th France; 8th Germany; 9th Mexico; 10th Belgium; 11th Brazil; 12th Philippines; 13th Italy; 14th Spain; 15th Netherlands; 16th Nigeria; 17th Pakistan; 18th China; 19th Colombia; 20th Hong Kong