West Africa Becoming the Next Hotbed for Cybercriminals
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 03/10/2017 08:36 PM
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Trend Micro and Interpol are warning that West Africa is developing its own underground cybercrime market. It is being built on the old 419 scammers as well as those who prefer business email compromise and tax scams.
"Although best known for simple types of fraud at present, West African cybercriminals are clearly shifting to more elaborate crimes, complex operations, and business models..." the report asserted. "We believe they will continue down this track and soon become as sophisticated and innovative as cybercriminals in other countries or regions. West African cybercriminals will eventually start creating online communities, not just small groups of close friends with whom they share technical skills and know-how. Some may start selling products and services that work for their crimes, leading to the formation of a West African underground market."
Cybercrime-related complaints in West Africa increased from nearly 1,300 incidents in 2014, to almost 2,300 incidents in 2015 as reported to law enforcement agencies. Only 30 % of those crimes were resolved.
West African cybercriminals stole an average of $2.7 million from businesses and $422,000 from individuals each year between 2013 and 2015. BEC scams mostly targeted manufacturing companies in 46 percent of reported 2016 incidents. "This is possibly due to the fact that manufacturing companies typically supply resources to smaller companies and so engage in a lot of email conversations and transactions that may contain invoice details," the report explained.
There seems to be two groups in action. One is the "yahoo boys" and the other the "next-level" cybercriminals. The yahoo boys still work on the old 419 advance-fee cons like romance scams and Nigerian Prince schemes. The other group is more adept at BEC schemes, tax scams and targeted phishing campaigns that require technical savvy and hacking tools such as keyloggers and remote access trojans. "They also have ties, financial accounts, and networks in the countries their targets reside in. This helps them more smoothly carry out operations..." the report states.
The groups share knowledge and mentor young members. "This is actually how 'newbie' cybercriminals learn to defraud potential victims and eventually differentiate themselves from others. They talk about which kind of people will most likely fall for particular types of fraud and what types of fraud actually work and pay off," the report explains. "In essence, the West African cybercriminal ecosystem can be considered as a self-learning portal and a self-sustaining system, improving through trial and error and the sharing of best practices."
Source: SCMagazine
"Although best known for simple types of fraud at present, West African cybercriminals are clearly shifting to more elaborate crimes, complex operations, and business models..." the report asserted. "We believe they will continue down this track and soon become as sophisticated and innovative as cybercriminals in other countries or regions. West African cybercriminals will eventually start creating online communities, not just small groups of close friends with whom they share technical skills and know-how. Some may start selling products and services that work for their crimes, leading to the formation of a West African underground market."Cybercrime-related complaints in West Africa increased from nearly 1,300 incidents in 2014, to almost 2,300 incidents in 2015 as reported to law enforcement agencies. Only 30 % of those crimes were resolved.
West African cybercriminals stole an average of $2.7 million from businesses and $422,000 from individuals each year between 2013 and 2015. BEC scams mostly targeted manufacturing companies in 46 percent of reported 2016 incidents. "This is possibly due to the fact that manufacturing companies typically supply resources to smaller companies and so engage in a lot of email conversations and transactions that may contain invoice details," the report explained.
There seems to be two groups in action. One is the "yahoo boys" and the other the "next-level" cybercriminals. The yahoo boys still work on the old 419 advance-fee cons like romance scams and Nigerian Prince schemes. The other group is more adept at BEC schemes, tax scams and targeted phishing campaigns that require technical savvy and hacking tools such as keyloggers and remote access trojans. "They also have ties, financial accounts, and networks in the countries their targets reside in. This helps them more smoothly carry out operations..." the report states.
The groups share knowledge and mentor young members. "This is actually how 'newbie' cybercriminals learn to defraud potential victims and eventually differentiate themselves from others. They talk about which kind of people will most likely fall for particular types of fraud and what types of fraud actually work and pay off," the report explains. "In essence, the West African cybercriminal ecosystem can be considered as a self-learning portal and a self-sustaining system, improving through trial and error and the sharing of best practices."
Source: SCMagazine
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