Group to Drive Campaign against Cyber Fraud

Following the recent involvement of some Nigerians in cyber fraud in the United States, the Information Security Society of Nigeria-Africa has resolved to embark on aggressive campaigns on cyber security.

The move is expected to stem the tide of fraudulent activities perpetrated via the internet within and outside the country.

ISSAN President, Dr. David Isiavwe, made the disclosure in Lagos, at a media briefing on Tuesday.

He said: “The fight against cybercrime from a regulatory standpoint is very good. ISSAN is collaborating with all key

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relevant stakeholders to ensure that there is adequate level of awareness in order to make sure people exercise some basic hygiene measures to carry out safe and secure transactions.”

According to him, “One area we still need to work on is the area of awareness creation. How do an average person who does not know how to read or write get to be aware of this.

“We had long found out that despite repeated messages sent out by banks such as ‘the bank will never contact you to ask for sensitive information like your PIN or passwords’, gullible bank customers still fall victims of cyber attacks by ignorantly releasing confidential information like passwords and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to unknown people who disguise themselves as bank staff.”

He suggested that banks could brand their messages to hit the screen of mobile devices and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in the form of a beep sound that will be clear and audible to enable bank customers differentiate actual bank messages from fraudulent messages.

Isiavwe, who reacted to the recent US cyber fraud involving some Nigerians residing within and outside US, condemned the motive to steal online, but called on bank customers to be extremely careful about who they divulge sensitive information to, regarding financial transactions.

The United States Department of Justice, last week, indicted a total of 80 people, many of whom were Nigerians, in connection to massive online fraud and money laundering.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, disclosed recently