Recent data from TCG Forensics shows South Africa is rapidly emerging as the “cybercrime capital” of Africa, poised to surpass Nigeria and its notorious “Nigerian Prince” scams in cyber-criminal activity.
Highlighting the surge in cybercrime, the Southern African Fraud Prevention Services reported a staggering 356% increase in impersonation fraud between April 2022 and April 2023.
Head of Buyers Trust, a subsidiary of Ooba Group, Jackie Smith, said several factors contribute to South Africa's vulnerability to cybercrime, the first being the past two decades' economic expansion and evolving digital landscape, which makes it an attractive target for criminals seeking quick financial gains.
The property industry has become an attractive target for cybercriminals due to the vast amount of valuable personal data involved and financial transactions that take place daily.
Smith said cybercriminals do this through weak and unprotected security walls, the use of ransomware — links a staff member of the company clicks and gives access to cybercriminals — and using unsecured public WiFi networks or WiFi with a weak password.
“No data exists for the South African property industry, but according to a 2022 BusinessLIVE article, and the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, South Africa loses $157m [R2.79bn] annually to cyberattacks.”
Smith said it has become increasingly difficult to catch cybercriminals because only a small number of police officers are equipped with the specialised skills needed to address cybercrimes. As a result, the policing of cybercrimes becomes exceedingly difficult, which makes way for sophisticated organised crime syndicates to operate with relative ease in the country.
“Additionally, it is nearly impossible to track or identify dark web users due to the methods they use to obscure their identity, such as VPNs and using the Tor Browser.
“There is always a concern about posting your possessions on social media. Stalkers/scammers have a particular manner of finding things in the photographs that can bring them closer to where they are. It is not recommended that you publicly display your home or possessions on social media. However, if you do so, make sure there is nothing in the background that may indicate where the items displayed can be found. Be cautious.”
Smith added cybercrime.org.za has a number of resources that can be used. Cybercrime should be reported to the Internet Service Provider's Association by drafting an affidavit through them which will help when taking the case to the police.
“Some good news — this year the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has collaborated with the SAPS to establish a cybercrime designated point of contact. The new initiative will give SAPS a much more robust capability in dealing with and investigating cyber-related crime for faster turnaround time,” said Smith.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.