The President, Nigeria
Internet Group, Mr Bayo Banjo, yesterday said that Nigeria might lose billions of naira to phishing/spamming, if adequate awareness was not created.
Banjo made this known in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
The Tide reports that phishing/spamming is the act of attempting to acquire sensitive personal details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
Fraudsters use this method to send bulk e-mails to a large number of unsuspecting individuals with the aim of defrauding them.
“Personal details such as username, password and financial details could be stolen by fraudsters if an individual opens or responds to certain unsolicited e-mails,” Banjo said.
He advised internet users to be vigilant when responding to e-mails.
He also advised on how to recognise a spammed e-mail.
“The subject of an e-mail should be read and understood before the e-mail is opened. If the subject is not relevant to you, don’t open the e-mail.
“Some spammed e-mails are sometimes sent with something familiar, such as the name of your friend or your present location; they are just antics to lure you in.
“If your curiosity gets the best of you, and you open an e-mail and read the content, do not, for whatever reason, respond to the e-mail or open any link in the e-mail,” he said.
Banjo said that most spammed e-mails would be harmless, if the receiver did not reply to it or open any link in it.
He said that the links were embedded with dangerous malwares.
“The damage caused by phishing ranges from denial of access to e-mail box to substantial financial loss.
“There have been reported cases of online banking and ATM fraud from victims of phishing. This is happening because of lack of awareness.
“Even developed nations such as U.S. and Britain, which have ongoing effective awareness campaigns, still lose much to phishing annually.
“If this trend is not discouraged, it will put a dent on the economic situation of our country,” he said.
Banjo suggested installation of an effective spam filter software to avoid phishing.
“Alarmist messages and threats of account closures, promises of money for little or no effort and deals that sound too good to be true, are all signs of a phishing e-mail,’’ he said.
He mentioned other signs to include requests to donate to a charitable organisation after a reported disaster, poor grammar and misspellings.
Banjo urged Internet users to ensure that applications and operating systems were up-to-date and fully patched.
He also advised them to consider subscribing to cyber-intelligence services to identify and terminate online threats.
“Relevant authorities should drive to the heart of the problem by investing in security education and awareness programmes.