Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has alerted Nigerians that cyber-criminals were taking advantage of the current COVID-19 pandemic to defraud citizens, steal sensitive information, or gain unauthorised access to computers or mobile devices using various techniques.
In a statement on Monday, CBN however explained that the situation was not peculiar to Nigeria as there has been a rise in COVID-19-related cyber-criminal activities all over the world.
“Our priority is to ensure that Nigerian banking customers are aware of the ongoing trend to prevent them from falling victim to such cyber-crimes,” the bank said.
The institution listed some of the cyber-criminal activities using the COVID-19 pandemic to include phishing campaigns with criminals sending out e-mails claiming to be from health organisations such as the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) or the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“The email may contain a link which, if clicked, steals login credentials or other confidential information from the victim’s computer or mobile device. It could also be in form of cyber-criminals sending messages via social media or emails asking people to click on links to register in order to get their COVID-19 relief packages from the Government or other organisations.
“Relief package scams also come in the form of phone calls asking people to provide their banking details to receive relief packages.
“Criminals have also produced COVID-19 maps, which steal information in the background,” the bank added.
To ensure that bank customers and citizens do not fall victim to these cyber-crimes, the apex bank advised citizens to beware of and verify emails or phone calls claiming to be from NCDC, WHO or government, especially when such emails request yo banking information or to click on a link.
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