There has been a notable increase in the number of phishing attacks throughout many African countries.
Kaspersky Labs, a market leader in the cybersecurity industry, has announced its plans to expand globally. As of the most up-to-date data provided by the company, Kaspersky’s anti-phishing system successfully blocked over 500 million attempts to access global websites in 2022.
This number is significantly less than what was predicted.
The 2022 reports on spam and phishing were quite informative on the global state of the problem at the time. Phishing attacks are portrayed as dangerous to the uninitiated because they rely more on sophisticated methods of social engineering than they do on complex technology.
To date, 8.7% of Africans have been financially affected by phishing schemes.
Read also: Financial phishing, cyberattacks surge In Kenya and Nigeria
The highest rate was found in South Africa (9.7%), then in Kenya (8.4%), and finally in Nigeria (7%). Phishing websites, created by fraudsters to steal users’ credentials, seem exactly like legitimate ones. These scam artists use the data to commit financial fraud against unsuspecting victims.
Companies offering delivery services were the most common targets of phishing attacks, and they suffered the greatest losses as a result. To pull this scam, fraudsters would send emails that seemed like they came from reputable delivery services but really claimed there was an issue with the recipient’s item.
However, the email would lead to a fake website that requests sensitive information such as passwords and bank account numbers.
More on the Kaspersky Lab phishing report
In 2022, analysts first noticed that phishing was becoming a preferred method of attack for hackers. South Africa was a prime target for online retail and financial services fraud, receiving 15.4% of attacks from fraudulent payment systems websites, 68.4% from phoney online stores, and 16.2% from false online bank portals. In Nigeria, such numbers were 31.1%, 51.2%, and 17.8%; in Kenya, they were 22.5%, 54.9%, and 22.6%. These data were gathered in Kenya.
According to Kaspersky’s analysis, messaging apps were widely used to spread phishing campaigns worldwide in 2022. WhatsApp accounts for the largest share of failed attempts, followed by Telegram and Viber. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of people’s need for privacy and personal space on social media by creating fake profiles and posting verified status updates.
Users can reduce their risk of falling for phishing and other spam-based scams by only engaging with emails and links from senders they know and trust. In cases when the sender could be reliable but the letter itself seems odd, it is prudent to double-check the information through alternative channels of contact. According to professional recommendations, phishing websites can be recognised by their misspelt URL.
More and more people and businesses are concerned about the rising tide of phishing attacks. As a result, protecting oneself from phishing schemes should be at the top of one’s list of priorities.