Cybercrime which is popularly known as “Yahoo-Yahoo” is a crime perpetrated through electronic communication networks, particularly the internet. This menace is very rampant among youths between the age of fourteen to twenty-one and it had done incalculable damage to the image of Nigeria. Cybercrime can be perpetrated through many ways e.g. phone calls, internet calls, sending of scam emails containing “get rich quick” proposals to entice unsuspecting victims, among others.
The most common type of cybercrime is perpetrated through email. In most cases, it comes in form of a marriage proposal, unclaimed funds, donations, lottery, help, bonanza, bank transaction notification or credit alert, and more. Some of the youths send as many as 20,000 of such scam emails every day while others send more to increase their chance of getting their targets.
Youths are proverbially referred to as leaders of tomorrow but how can they be true leaders when they engage in various types of cybercrime at an early age?
It is very sad that the friends and family members of most cybercriminals are very happy with their illegal activities. Due to the economic situation of the country, most parents of cybercriminals have determined to pretend as if nothing is wrong with what their children are doing because of the benefits they derive from their ill-gotten wealth. Their excuse is that the high rate of unemployment and poverty in Nigeria lead their children into illegal activities.
Some parents invite clerics, family members, neighbors, friends, and well-wishers to celebrate with them and hold special prayer sessions for their children who have made huge sums of money through internet fraud. Others go further to prepare charms for their children and also introduce them to highly influential people so as to escape justice if they get arrested or they are taken to court for trial. Some parents even justify the unlawful acts by saying “they are reaping the fruits of their labour.”
Cybercrime had done incalculable damage to the image of Nigeria and many countries around the world. A study by a research organisation discovered that Nigerian scams cost the British Economy at least £150 million a year. The fact of this matter is that the cost to society is beyond just losing money. Some victims had attempted suicide, many homes have broken, many businesses crashed and a large number of victims are now battling with high blood pressure, depression, and mental illness in various clinics around the world as a result of cybercrimes of different nature.
Further findings, also revealed that some countries lose at least $36 million a year to Nigerian scammers.
However, cybercrime is not limited to men, some ladies are also into the illegal act. They usually start by sending their nude pictures to unsuspecting victims after which they develop this to Advance Fee Fraud, all in the name of unemployment and poverty.
The mind-boggling question: Is cybercrime the solution to unemployment and poverty in Nigeria? The answer is of course ‘NO.’
Here are some safety tips that we can adopt to reduce cybercrime among Nigerian youths in today’s digital age:
1. We should all have a total change of mindset by having the fear of God in our hearts and believing that one day we will meet our creator to give an account of how we spent our lives.
2. Religious and Non-Governmental Organisations should always organise programs to sensitise the youths and the society at large on the need to have the fear of God in their heart irrespective of their situation, while religious leaders should always preach messages on “salvation” and “morality” rather than “prosperity”.
3. Parents should not indulge their children who come home with different items they did not procure for them. They should investigate how they got the items.
4. Parents should always pray for their children, inculcate them with fear of God and moral values.
5. Government and Non-Governmental Organizations should encourage and help the youths to develop their talents through skill acquisition programs.
6. Nigerian youths should be optimistic about the situation of the country. They should shun the belief that “Nigeria can never get better.”
7. Government should address the problem of poverty and unemployment by creating more jobs and providing soft loans to unemployed youths.
8. The youths should also realise that cybercrime has repercussions that could destroy their present and future plans.
9. Government and Non-Governmental Organizations should always create awareness campaigns at all levels to sensitise the entire public on the dangers attributed to cybercrimes and the preventive measures.
10. The registration of the National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) introduced by the Federal Government had really helped a lot in reducing cybercrimes in Nigeria. More programmes of this nature should be introduced by the government.
Rotimi Onadipe
CEO Onadipe Technologies,
National Coordinator- Internet Abuse Awareness & Prevention Project, Nigeria.