Going beyond ‘Nigerian Prince’: SA turning into Africa’s cybercrime capital

South Africa is experiencing a worrying rise in cybercrime, which is threatening to overtake the infamous ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam and turn SA into the cybercrime capital of Africa.

The surge continues despite the passing of the Cybercrimes Act.

Cybercrime on the rise

A recent report from TCG Forensics has brought the alarming spike in cybercrime to the forefront once again.

It noted a 356% surge in impersonation scams between April 2022 and April 2023, as reported by the Southern African Fraud Prevention Services.

‘Incredibly easy’

Jackie Smith, the head of Buyers Trust, a subsidiary of Ooba Group, said South Africa’s vulnerability stems from a combination of factors, including economic growth and a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Smith said cybercrimes are incredibly easy to commit, while an estimated 90% of cybercrimes go unreported.

“Cybercrimes can be committed by anyone with access to a cellphone and an internet connection, making these crimes incredibly easy to perpetrate.

“And, with only an estimated 10% of cybercrimes reported to the police, criminals feel they can operate without consequence”.

When the Cybercrimes Act bill was signed into law in June 2021, media law expert Richard Chemaly said the act was a missed opportunity.

Chemaly said the act aimed to address the serious issues South Africa faced, but the language used was broad and vague.

Cybercrime thrives in SA

South Africa’s cybercrime dilemma is further exacerbated by a lack of trained police officers to tackle cybercrime.

This creates an environment where organised crime syndicates thrive, especially in the property industry, which has become a soft target for cybercriminals.

Smith said the transactions performed by buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords leave them exposed to data breaches and phishing schemes.

The number of financial transactions conducted daily – coupled with the abundant exchange of valuable personal data – is a goldmine for cybercriminals.

The most common phishing scam in this regard is deposit phishing schemes.

Deposit phishing schemes

In deposit phishing schemes, cybercriminals sneakily intercept emails between buyers and sellers by posing as genuine real estate agents or legal representatives

By doing this, they redirect the buyer’s deposit into their accounts.

They are so good at it, according to Smith, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish genuine emails from fraudulent ones.

To shield against these types of phishing scams, Smith suggests the following measures:

– be wary of email links and attachments,
– confirm the email sender,
– validate the website’s authenticity,
– abstain from sharing sensitive data through email or unfamiliar websites, and
– use secure, transparent third-party options for deposit transactions.

If we’re note careful, these types of scams could soon eclipse the Nigerian Prince scam – one of the oldest online fraud schemes intended to steal people’s money and personal information.

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