A common cyber threat prevalent in Nigeria these days is the use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and others especially WhatsApp by Cyber criminals / scammers to share links to fake websites or online forms requesting for the victims personal information such as Name, phone number, email, address and sometimes for sensitive information like BVN and NIN.
Victims enter their information in these false websites believing that they will get some sort of reward or opportunities such as free mobile network recharge cards and data bundles (Mtn, Glo, Airtel etc), job placement or financial aids from the federal government or some organization among others.
But unfortunately for the victims, their personal information are collected by these scammers and sold to marketers who will bombard your inbox with unsolicited emails and messages or even worse, can be sold to cyber criminals who use the information shared to launch an attack on the victim later.
Have you ever wondered how the scammers who called you or your loved ones impersonating job recruiters, business associates or bankers got your contacts? and even knows your name, phone number, address and occupation etc. This tactics is one way they get those information.
FYI: In Cybersecurity, this tactic is a known as SOCIAL ENGINEERING which is the art of manipulating people into performing actions or sharing sensitive information. There are many kinds of social engineering tactics used by cyber criminals such as Phishing which will be discussed later.
Back to our discussion,
Nowadays cyber criminals use these tactics more often and succeed most of the time because they know that many Nigerians are in a vulnerable situation especially as a result of the financial difficulties and hard times people are going through in the country.
These criminals also know and benefit from the fact that people love to share opportunities, so they create these environments of false trust and lies to get as many people as possible who will also share with their families and friends.
Few Examples of titles used to share these fake links
1. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ₦50,000 CHILD SUPPORT FUND FOR ALL NIGERIAN PARENTS IS ONGOING
2. GET 500000 NPOWER GRANT FROM FG.
3. GET YOUR FREE 10GB DATA FOR ALL Networks NOW.
And so on..
So you should be wary to click these kinds of links.
How To Identify Fake Links
It is very easy to identify these fake links.
1. The Domain Says It All:
Looking at the fake website’s domain name I.e (the website link) most times it is not associated in any way with the organisation they are claiming to be.
E.g. A website claiming to be that of Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and Poverty Alleviation should have the URL of FMHDS which is https://fmhds.gov.ng/ and not something like https://tr.ee/child-support or using a URL like free-mtn-data.blogspot.com, the latter being a domain linked with Google blogger a free blogging platform.
Sometimes they will use links to Google forms which they use to collect the information from their unsuspecting victims.
2. Do a search about the programme or offer they are claiming is from the legitimate organizations, you can visit the organization’s website or contact their support to find out if there is any such programme.
Do not be quick to share your personal information on websites or online forms before verifying that they are from legitimate sources.
Google has provided an excellent quiz which you can use to learn how to identify phishing emails via the link below
Stay safe online and stay connected for more related blog posts.
