Ashly DhaniOnline attacks are increasing on the African continent and mostly affect people when they are distracted or multitasking, but the emotional impact of these crimes affects victims more than the loss of money.
This is according to findings from a survey conducted by KnowB4, which polled 800 employed individuals in different countries — including Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Mauritius – across various age groups.
Key findings
The survey found almost 40 percent of the respondents fell victim to online scams, while 33 percent have come across an online scam.
Almost 20 percent of the respondents had never fallen for a scam, and 8 percent of the participants had no idea what an online scam is. It was also found that most victims are preoccupied with something when they fall for scams, with 43 percent being either distracted or multitasking at the time.
Many of the targeted victims are from Nigeria (43 percent) and South Africa (46 percent).
To carry out these scams, cybercriminals use platforms such as social media, mostly in Nigeria (40 percent), while email scams dominate South Africa at 28 percent.
Cybercriminals use different types of scams to trap victims, from financial scams (50 percent) investment scams (30 percent), crypto scams with fake NFT or crypto projects (29 percent), impersonating a brand (28 percent), information theft (24 percent) and fake jobs (22 percent) to shopping scams (21 percent).
The survey also found 53 percent of victims were convinced an online scam was a legitimate offer because of how real the website appeared.
“Cybercriminals are using emerging technologies and emotive approaches in well-written emails as well as deep fake enabled impersonations on WhatsApp and other messaging apps.
“The key is to understand what these threats are and how they have evolved so people can protect themselves from both the financial and emotional impact,” said SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist KnowBe4 Africa Anna Collard.
To reach victims, a lot of the scams reached out via email (24 percent), social media (19 percent), WhatsApp message (10 percent), other messaging services like Telegram (8 percent), malicious and (8percent), a compromised website (3 percent), a phone call (8 percent), and an SMS (7 percent).
Emotional impact trumps financial loss
Realising one has fallen victim to a scam can trigger numerous emotions, and these vary among people by country, with some feeling naïve, embarrassed, angry, or less trusting.
Recovering from a scam can take some time, as well.
The findings of the survey revealed victims of scams are mostly impacted by the emotional effects of the scam more than the financial loss.
“Twenty-four percent took several months and 10 percent took more than a year to recover financially, while the rest either had no losses or recovered in a few days or weeks.
“However, when it came to recovering from the emotional impact of the incident, the majority [22 percent] said it took them a few months, with 11 percent saying it took more than a year,” according to KnowB4.
Regarding financial losses, 40 percentof the victims said they lost about US$100 (R1 893), 30 percent between US$100 and US$1 000 (R18 927), and almost 9 percent lost more than US$1 000.
Caution moving forward
Although certain behaviours have led to people falling victim to scams, many learned valuable lessons from the experiences.
About 75 percent of the respondents became more cautious and aware of online scams, while 71 percent warned others about their experience. Only 13 percent still felt vulnerable to online scams.
Some organisations prioritise security awareness training for their employees, with about 23 percent of the respondents having received frequent training.
About 9 percent received both training and phishing simulations, and 22 percent received training just once a year. Some 25 percent said they received no training at all.
“As employee training is one of the most powerful tools to help people be aware of online scams, it is an essential investment for the organisation.
“When employees learn how to recognise the risks, they can protect both themselves and the organisations they work for,” Collard said.
Bongani Ndlovu