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 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 that 14 suspects were arrested in raids carried out across the US.

Many co-conspirators, Mrozek said, were still in Nigeria, with others also at large in the US and other countries.
“We believe this is one of the largest cases of its kind in US history,” United States Attorney for the Central District of California, Nick Hanna, said during a press conference last week.

In a 252-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed on Thursday, the defendants are accused of participating in a massive conspiracy to steal millions of dollars through a variety of fraud schemes and launder the funds through a Los Angeles-based money laundering network.

Isiavwe, however noted that Cyber security remained a global problem existing in Nigeria and developed countries, without the fraudsters physically traveling to commit such crime. He said from the confines of their homes, they could do this once they have a device connected to the internet.

He added that the losses arising from the fraudulent act were huge. The Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) recognises this and the apex bank is at the forefront of fighting Cybercrime in Nigeria, Isiavwe said.

He, however, lauded the CBN for churning out policies designed to solve the security challenges involving funds transfer.

“From what we have seen in the CBN regulated financial space in Nigeria, a lot of our systems are even safer than what is obtained in the developed world. One of the key mechanisms the CBN has introduced is the BVN, which makes financial transactions safe and secured.

“It is one very good tool to fight against cybercrime, and another one is the two-factor authentication, which the CBN has done to make sure that our systems are safe and secure such that for anyone to have access to any system, there will be requirement code that is known to only the account holder, Isiavwe said.