Another common form of cybercrime is phishing. As a matter of fact, financial institution websites are amongst the most commonly phished websites today. According to Wikipedia:

In computing, phishing is a criminal activity using social engineering techniques. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. eBay and PayPal are two of the most targeted companies, and online banks are also common targets.

As if the menace of 419 (Advance Fee Fraud) is not enough, some lazy/wanna-get-rich-quick Nigerians have engaged themselves with the business of setting-up fake websites, and then sending out fake emails, in an attempt to defraud innocent or greedy folks in other parts of the world. Common amongst the most phished websites, are those of:

• The Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] (Real website: www.cenbank.org)
• Nigeria Immigration Service: (Real website: www.immigration.gov.ng)
• Shell, Chevron and other leading oil exploration companies
• Leading banks and other financial institutions

Modus operandi
Email plays a pivotal role in all these. The scammers after buying domain names that are quite similar to those of the institutions listed above, they then go ahead to create fake email addresses under these domains, and then send mass email to unsuspecting individuals/organizations.

About the Nigerian Central Bank’s website philshing, I can safely assume that they use that to back-up their 419 schemes; make them look real. The same would apply to the fake oil exploration company websites.

Nigeria Immigration Service: I don’t know how they get their victims’ email contacts, but they mail them, claiming to be the authentic Nigeria Immigration Service website. They send fake Visa fees to their victims who want to visit Nigeria and then lure them to pay to them (scammers). Of course, the victims will get no Nigerian visa if they paid. The scammers will be happy, and Nigeria’s image is further tarnished.

A fake financial institution website will serve multiple purposes: back-up their 419 schemes, use it to announce fake lottery winnings, collect the login information of genuine bank customers.

There is no end to the list of online scams these idle hands can come up with. They are getting more and more daring by the day. The skilled ones among them set-up these websites. Some of them look real so beware. Always report such fake websites to the domain registrar, web hosting company, as well as the relevant law enforcement agency in Nigeria: EFCC, The Nigeria Police etc.

NB: A list of some of such fake sites. Beware! Some of them might have keyloggers, viruses, worms, trojan horses downloaded and installed on your PC without your knowledge, if your PC is not secured. http://db.aa419.org/fakebankslist.php?psearch=nig&psearchtype

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