• TREND MICRO
  • ABOUT
Search:
  • Latest Posts
  • Categories
    • Android
    • AWS
    • Azure
    • Cloud
    • Compliance
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Cybercrime
    • Encryption
    • Financial Services
    • Government
    • Hacks
    • Healthcare
    • Internet of Everything
    • Malware
    • Microsoft
    • Mobile Security
    • Network
    • Privacy
    • Ransomware
    • Security
    • Social Media
    • Small Business
    • Targeted Attacks
    • Trend Spotlight
    • Virtualization
    • Vulnerabilities
    • Web Security
    • Zero Day Initiative
    • Industry News
  • Our Experts
    • Ed Cabrera
    • Rik Ferguson
    • Greg Young
    • Mark Nunnikhoven
    • Jon Clay
    • William “Bill” Malik
  • Research
Home   »   Cybercrime   »   The Culture of Cybercrime in West Africa

The Culture of Cybercrime in West Africa

  • Posted on:March 9, 2017
  • Posted in:Cybercrime, Security, Underground Economy
  • Posted by:
    Ed Cabrera (Chief Cybersecurity Officer)
0

As part of our ongoing research into the cybercriminal underground markets of the world, Trend Micro researchers today released a report detailing Cybercrime in West Africa. This report leverages our ongoing partnership with INTERPOL to provide survey data and a deeper understanding of the regions cybercriminal ecosystem.

While tactics play a role in the success of West African cybercriminals, the greatest contributor to the proliferation of cybercrime in this region is their long history of defrauding victims globally. Viewed as outsmarting victims, cybercrime is encouraged in West Africa – especially Ghana where the ritualization of online fraud, sakawa, is practiced. Sakawa recognizes that a Supreme Being blesses scammers with protection and good fortune, eliminating the unethical implications and encouraging West Africans to defraud foreign victims.

It can be argued that West African threat actors turn to cybercrime as a means to an end to provide for themselves and their families. A survey conducted by INTERPOL revealed that each year nearly half of the 1 million graduates from more than 668 African universities are unemployed.

In terms of communication, West African cybercriminals willingly share tricks of the trade with one another and teach newbies how to con potential victims. The open lines of communication could be what’s sustained this ecosystem for so long and explains how effective scams have risen to popularity.

The Major Players

The two most common types of cybercriminals in West Africa are known as the “Yahoo Boys” and “Next-Level Cybercriminals.” These two groups portray distinct characteristics and operate different types of scams based on their levels of experience.

Yahoo Boys, named for their use of Yahoo apps to communicate, are often part of groups operating in the same physical location and supervised by a more experienced ringleader. These cybercriminals see a scam from beginning to end and often carry out multiple attacks at one time. They specialize in advance-fee, romance and stranded-traveler scams, such as the “Nigerian Prince” phishing emails that brought West Africa on the theoretical map of cybercrime in the early 2000s. Their goal is to convince unsuspecting victims to transfer large sums of money for a variety of illegitimate reasons. Yahoo Boys typically lack maturity and actively use social media to show off their ill-gotten wealth.

Meanwhile, Next-Level Cybercriminals are the opposite of Yahoo Boys. This group consists of well-off and highly respected family men who are mature in terms of personal behavior. Albeit new to the scene, Next-Level Cybercriminals engage in more complex attacks, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and tax scams, by using malware and other crime-enabling software from Russia and other English speaking underground markets. They also maintain connections and accounts overseas as a way to feign legitimacy with their victims and keep law enforcement at arm’s length. Due to the sophisticated social engineering tactics required to pull off these scams, significantly more research and effort goes into the crimes committed by Next-Level Cybercriminals.

What Next? 

The INTERPOL survey showed West African cybercriminals rake in an average $2.7 million from businesses and $422,000 from individuals. The substantially larger payout from enterprises explains why these cybercriminals prefer BEC and tax scams and use simpler attacks to sustain their revenue stream.

Although there is currently no underground marketplace in West Africa, we can anticipate one to emerge in the near future as these cybercriminals hone-in on their skills and adopt new tactics. Despite roadblocks related to investigating cybercrime in this region, the INTERPOL survey revealed 30 percent of crimes reported to law enforcement each year lead to arrests. It is our hope that in partnership with INTERPOL, we can raise this number and alleviate further cybercriminal activity in West Africa.

Related posts:

  1. Trend Micro Collaborates with Latin American Leaders on Cybercrime
  2. Africa: A New Safe Harbor for Cybercriminals?
  3. The French Cybercrime Underground Economy
  4. Trend Micro and INTERPOL: Teaming Up Again to Fight Global Cybercrime

Security Intelligence Blog

  • Our New Blog
  • How Unsecure gRPC Implementations Can Compromise APIs, Applications
  • XCSSET Mac Malware: Infects Xcode Projects, Performs UXSS Attack on Safari, Other Browsers, Leverages Zero-day Exploits

Featured Authors

Ed Cabrera (Chief Cybersecurity Officer)
Ed Cabrera (Chief Cybersecurity Officer)
  • Ransomware is Still a Blight on Business
Greg Young (Vice President for Cybersecurity)
Greg Young (Vice President for Cybersecurity)
  • Not Just Good Security Products, But a Good Partner
Jon Clay (Global Threat Communications)
Jon Clay (Global Threat Communications)
  • This Week in Security News: Ransomware Gang is Raking in Tens of Millions of Dollars and Microsoft Patch Tuesday Update Fixes 17 Critical Bugs
Mark Nunnikhoven (Vice President, Cloud Research)
Mark Nunnikhoven (Vice President, Cloud Research)
  • Twitter Hacked in Bitcoin Scam
Rik Ferguson (VP, Security Research)
Rik Ferguson (VP, Security Research)
  • The Sky Has Already Fallen (you just haven’t seen the alert yet)
William
William "Bill" Malik (CISA VP Infrastructure Strategies)
  • Black Hat Trip Report – Trend Micro

Follow Us

Trend Micro In The News

  • Cloud-based Email Threats Capitalized on Chaos of COVID-19
  • Detected Cyber Threats Rose 20% to Exceed 62.6 Billion in 2020
  • Trend Micro Recognized on CRN Security 100 List
  • Trend Micro Reports Solid Results for Q4 and Fiscal Year 2020
  • Connected Cars Technology Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks
  • Home and Home Office
  • |
  • For Business
  • |
  • Security Intelligence
  • |
  • About Trend Micro
  • Asia Pacific Region (APAC): Australia / New Zealand, 中国, 日本, 대한민국, 台灣
  • Latin America Region (LAR): Brasil, México
  • North America Region (NABU): United States, Canada
  • Europe, Middle East, & Africa Region (EMEA): France, Deutschland / Österreich / Schweiz, Italia, Россия, España, United Kingdom / Ireland
  • Privacy Statement
  • Legal Policies
  • Copyright © 2017 Trend Micro Incorporated. All rights reserved.