Before Anything Else, African Cybercriminals Are after Money

as the pandemic led to a tightening in the economy, many young Nigerians at the cusp of economic independence were pushed into cybercrime. Every expert I spoke with emphasized that the issue was much broader than just Nigeria or West Africa.

As Ashraf Koheil, META director of Group-ib put it, “The economic challenges created by the pandemic made it difficult for a significant number of young, university-educated professionals to find legitimate work, leading some to join cybercriminal groups. These individuals have the capability to act as educators, passing on their digital skills with others, creating networks of cybercriminals who are able to launch wave upon wave of fraudulent attacks.” Across Africa, tough economic realities during the pandemic led to more crime, especially cybercrime. financial gain is the biggest driver for cybercrime across the world roughly 80% of it but in Africa, persistent socioeconomic issues exacerbate the situation. One challenge in combating cybercrime in Africa is that many of the actors are decentralized and have brute force in their population. These groups are often barely funded, loosely-organized, and rely largely on their impressive social engineering skills and off-the-shelf tools accessed on the dark web. All that and they have nimble adaptation. Their sophistication or lack thereof is synonymous with the socioeconomic issues driving them. For many young Africans, the lure of cybercrime can be very strong, especially as it is normalized in music and fashion, and exacerbated by contemporary numbness to morality

(Inkstick Media)