News
Identity Thieves Steal N7.4Bn from Banks
Nigeria financial institutions lost some N7.3billion last year to cyber thieves, underscoring the greatest and perhaps most dangerous threat to the development of the country, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations can now reveal.
This figure is just for reported cases and would have been higher if not that financial institutions are reluctant to report all losses to fraud because of its consequence on their image.
The unchecked activities of cyber criminals in Nigeria have been fueled by the anonymity of the internet, dearth of technical know how and the country’s lack of proper legal framework to deal with the deadly gang of thieves.
But the activities of fraudsters is not limited to Nigeria, as a special report by the United States Department of States had it that the use of the Internet in the provision of services by organizations and governments costs banks globally, over $1billion annually.
According to the report, nearly 10, 000 victims had home loans totaling about $300 million, taken out in their names and another 68,000 had new credit cards issued in their names.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 161, 000 identity theft complaints last year, and the FBI estimates that the actual number of victims is probably close to 500,000.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that losses through Cyber-related fraud are expected to increase by 70% of the reported figure as a result of increase in the activities of cyber criminals who have infiltrated the e-payment system.
The impact of Cyber Crime and Cyber Security is so colossal that it has the capability of wiping out developmental gains of a nation and retarding her growth fortunes by many decades, in terms of Gross Domestic Product, if proper steps are not taken.
The grim reality is that Nigeria may be incapable of achieving the objectives and the critical tasks of the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) nor fulfilling the targets set for her national development vision and plans, unless she tackles and resolves the challenges of Cyber Crime and ensures that commensurate infrastructure and human resource capacities are built to effectively respond to the emerging monster.
The domestic and international implications of an increasingly critical societal dependence on the Internet make necessary the ability to deter, or otherwise minimize, the effects of Cyber attacks.
The capability of a nation or a cooperating group of nations to track the source of any attack on its infrastructure or citizens, is central to the deterrence of such attacks and hence to that nation’s long-term survival and prosperity.
Luckily, help is coming as Global Network for Cybersolution, a Non-Governmental Organization and the Federal Government have joined forces to address the ineffective judiciary process to prosecute Cyber Criminals required in this era of e-transactions and Cyber Space operation and life style.
The two have slated the first National Conference on Cyber Crime and Cyber Security this week, to also exploit the endorsement of the global community that Nigeria is not only conscious of the magnitude of this problem but has stepped forward to propagate and champion its national awareness and spur the private sector to address and respond to the embedded challenging issues as a priority for national development and particularly for the actualization of vision 2020.
National Reading Culture (NRC), an online investment platform targeting Nigerians has collapsed, resulting in the loss of billions of Naira for investors.
The website unexpectedly shut down, blocking users from withdrawing their funds and locking in their investments.
Just like all other investment scams, victims were lured with promises of doubling their money in few weeks.
When National Reading Culture eventually crashed, the operators vanished with users’ funds, leaving investors devastated.
How the Platform WorkedTask-Based Earning:
According findings, National Reading Culture lured users with promises of making money by completing simple daily tasks like reading articles, clicking links, or inviting friends.
They also offered investment tiers to earn higher daily profits, where users had to deposit their own money into the platform.
Evidence showed the website previously operated as a Chinese job search platform before rebranding into an “earning” scheme.
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) to collaborate on digital transformation aimed at strengthening worker protection systems and support economic growth.
According to RMA, the agreement was concluded during a visit by its delegation to Abuja.
The partnership will focus on institutional capability development, modernising operating models, improving service delivery and sharing knowledge between the two organisations.
Through the partnership, RMA and NSITF will collaborate to strengthen institutional capability, modernise operating models, accelerate digital transformation and improve services for workers and employers.
The organisations will also explore opportunities for knowledge exchange and the adoption of best practices in social security administration.
RMA said the agreement forms part of its broader engagement with governments, regulators and social security institutions across Africa to support improvements in governance, operational resilience and service delivery.
“Our partnership with NSITF reflects much more than the signing of an agreement,” said Mandla Shezi, group chief executive officer of RMA. “This partnership is not simply about sharing knowledge. It is about co-creating the next generation of African social security systems.”
He added: “By combining our respective strengths, we can help build institutions that are more resilient, more responsive and better equipped to protect workers while supporting national development.”
Shezi said the future of social security depends on integrated systems where prevention, insurance, healthcare, rehabilitation, technology, investment management and institutional capability work together.
Microsoft has announced plans to cut about 4,800 jobs, representing roughly 2.1 percent of its global workforce, with Xbox, its gaming division, expected to bear the largest share of the layoffs.
The company said more than 1,600 positions at Xbox would be eliminated immediately, while another 1,600 jobs would be phased out over the next year as part of a major restructuring of the gaming business.
In a memo to employees, Amy Coleman, executive vice president, Microsoft, said the company was streamlining its operations to focus on areas that deliver greater value to customers in a rapidly changing technology industry.
Asha Sharma, chief executive officer, Xbox, described the move as “the most significant restructure in Xbox history,” saying the changes are intended to position the gaming business for long-term growth rather than downsizing.
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