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Firm Warns of Blackmail from Alleged “Hackers”, “Law Enforcement” and “Hitmen”

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Attackers are incorporating personal details like full names and phone numbers in scam emails to appear credible and induce panic among victims. Scammers may pose as hackers with compromising data, law enforcement agencies issuing fake summons, or even hired assassins demanding ransoms. These threats often leverage techniques to evade email filters and other security solutions, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance.

In the most common variant, scammers impersonate hackers who claim to have infiltrated the victim’s devices. They allege to have access to cameras, microphones, browsing history, and sensitive files, often threatening to release explicit content captured via webcam or screen recordings supposedly taken whilst the victim was watching adult content.

Demands typically involve hundreds of US dollars in cryptocurrency, with promises to delete the data upon payment. These emails may include detailed narratives of the supposed breach, including explanations of malware types and advice on better security – ironically, tips that align with genuine best practices.

Another scam twist involves fraudsters posing as hired hitmen. In this scheme, the sender claims a contract has been placed on the victim’s life but offers to spare them if they outbid the original payer.

The email includes a cryptocurrency wallet for the ransom, framing the scammer as a “merciful” intermediary. This variant relies on fear rather than embarrassment, promising the victim’s life in exchange for payment.

Another prevalent tactic sees scammers masquerading as law enforcement agencies, such as Europol. Victims receive emails with attached PDF or DOC files containing fake summonses accusing them of serious crimes like child exploitation, exhibitionism, or human trafficking.

These documents cite fabricated articles of legal codes, feature forged signatures and seals, and urge immediate contact via a provided email to “resolve” the matter. Upon response, the “authorities” demand paying fines to avoid prosecution, often leading to cryptocurrency transfers.

“To slip past protective solutions, scammers employ various evasion tactics. These include embedding the main threat in attachments to avoid body text scanning, mixing letters from different alphabets (e.g., replacing Latin letters with similar Cyrillic ones), adding diacritical marks via HTML codes, varying fonts in HTML markup, inserting random symbols or punctuation between words, and hiding text in invisible HTML tables.

“Such “noise” makes detection by security solutions more difficult, as each email variant appears unique while remaining readable to humans. For example, cryptocurrency wallet addresses might be obscured with HTML entities to evade filters without hindering the victim’s ability to copy them,” comments Anna Lazaricheva, Senior Spam Analyst at Kaspersky.

 


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E-Business

Jumia Tech Week 2026 Begins with Tech Deals on Smartphones, Electronics, and Everyday Technology

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Jumia Nigeria has announced the launch of Jumia Tech Week 2026, a two-week campaign offering customers access to discounted technology products across key categories, including smartphones, computing, home entertainment, and wearable devices.

Starting from March 2 to March 15, Jumia Nigeria’s Tech Week 2026 is themed ‘Tech Products for Less’ – a deliberate commitment by the e-commerce giant to drive down the cost of technology products for Nigerian consumers. The campaign offers significant price reductions across key product categories, enabling more Nigerians to access the devices they need at prices that reflect the company’s dedication to affordability and consumer value.

Jumia Tech Week will feature deals across a wide range of product categories, including mobile phones, computer systems and accessories, televisions and audio equipment, gaming products, home appliances, portable power solutions, health technology,, and wearable devices.

Customers will also have access to curated recommendations, including top smartphone deals, must-have accessories, gaming essentials, and home technology upgrades.

According to Temidayo Ojo, CEO of Jumia Nigeria, the campaign reflects Jumia’s broader commitment to making everyday technology more accessible to Nigerians.

“Technology has become an essential part of everyday life, and access to the right devices enables more people to participate fully in the digital economy,” said Ojo. “At Jumia, we remain focused on expanding access and improving the shopping experience as we continue to build Nigeria’s everyday retail destination.”

The campaign will include a range of customer engagement initiatives such as flash sales, brand days, anchor deals and interactive activities designed to enhance the online shopping experience.

Special highlight periods, described as Explosion Days, will take place on March 6 and March 13, featuring limited-time offers across selected technology categories. Customers will also be able to participate in interactive activities, including product-based games, treasure hunts,, and live shopping sessions during the campaign period.

The campaign will feature participation from leading brands including Oraimo, Silver Crest, Samsung, Ecoflow, Nivea and Aeon, offering customers a wide selection of technology, household and lifestyle products. Early access promotions already begun during the teaser period from February 16 to March 1, allowing customers to preview selected deals ahead of the official launch.

Jumia Tech Week forms part of the company’s broader strategy to expand e-commerce adoption by improving access to essential products and enhancing the customer experience across its platform. As Nigeria’s e-commerce market continues to grow, Jumia remains focused on strengthening its product assortment, logistics capabilities, and digital experience to serve customers better nationwide.

Customers can participate in the campaign by using the Jumia mobile app or visiting the Jumia website and following the conversation online using #JumiaTechWeek.

 


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E-Business

House Queries NDIC: ₦5m Max Payout for Failed Bank Depositors

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Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) pays between ₦2 million and ₦5 million as deposit insurance to customers of liquidated banks, Managing Director Thompson Oludare Sunday told the House Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters during 2026 budget defence.

House Queries NDIC: ₦5m Max Payout for Failed Bank Depositors

NDIC

House Spokesperson Akin Rotimi Jr sought details on depositor entitlements, citing Heritage Bank’s June 2024 collapse and public concerns over financial confidence.

Sunday explained NDIC’s mandate: banks pay risk-based premiums (now under 1%, down from 15/16 of 1%) to guarantee deposits. Coverage is ₦5 million for deposit money banks, primary mortgage banks (PMBs), and microfinance banks (MMOs); ₦2 million for other financial institutions.

Using BVN, NDIC auto-pays guaranteed sums without visits for amounts up to the limit. For Heritage, post-revocation, NDIC liquidated assets—selling buildings, recovering loans, realizing investments—and paid a second ₦24.63 billion dividend on January 6.

“Anything above ₦5 million or ₦2 million depends on recoveries,” Sunday said, noting ongoing asset sales and debt chases.

Committee Chairman Ahmed Jaha Babawo commended the clarity, noting the limit rose from ₦500,000 to ₦5 million recently. Over 90% of Heritage depositors got insured sums in under four days, meeting International Resolution Deposit (IRD) standards.

Babawo added liquidation dividends would be discussed in executive session.


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Kaspersky Discovers New Phishing Campaign Exploiting Google Tasks Notifications to Steal Corporate Credentials

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Kaspersky has uncovered a new phishing scheme that abuses legitimate Google Tasks notifications to trick corporate users into revealing corporate login credentials.

By leveraging Google’s trusted @google.com email domain and notification system, attackers bypass traditional email security filters and exploit users’ trust in familiar services.

In this campaign, victims receive an authentic-looking notification from Google Tasks with the subject line “You have a new task.” The message creates the illusion that the recipient’s company has adopted Google’s task management tool, pressuring them to act quickly. The notification often includes elements of urgency, such as a high-priority flag and a tight deadline, to prompt the victim’s immediate response.

Upon clicking the embedded link, users are directed to a fraudulent form disguised as an “employee verification” page, where they are asked to enter their corporate credentials under the pretense of confirming their status. These stolen credentials can then be used for unauthorised access to company systems, data theft, or further attacks.

“Google’s vast ecosystem of services gets exploited by scammers. The scheme with Google Tasks is part of a broader trend observed before and continuing into 2026, where cybercriminals misuse legitimate platforms to distribute scams and phishing.

Notifications originating from legitimate domains naturally evade many spam and phishing filters, while the social engineering aspect – making it seem like an internal company process – lowers the victim’s guard,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.

 


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