Nigerians embracing digital payments platforms are facing scams and getting hugely exposed to fraudsters, report shows. As per Kaspersky Digital Payment survey’s, 61% of respondents from Nigeria faced phishing scams when using online banking or mobile wallet services.

67% have personally encountered fake websites, and 82% experienced scams (via texts or calls) using social engineering, a comparatively high number. When asked about awareness of threats against digital payment methods, majority of respondents from Nigeria said they are aware of both the financial phishing attacks (95%) and online scams (97%). 78% also stated that they are informed about banking malware on PCs and on mobile.

This type of malicious software steals money from users’ bank accounts. However, according to the report, 98% think that banks and payment companies should educate users more about the threats online. When it comes to a list of security features that consumers would like to see more on existing banking apps and mobile wallets, survey results showed that the following are of importance to them: the implementation of one-time-passwords (OTPs) via SMS for every transaction (76%); biometric security features like facial or fingerprint recognition (75%); requiring two-factor authentication (64%);  automated detection and intervention for fraudulent transactions (39%) and point-to-point encryption (22%).

To help users in Nigeria embrace digital payment technologies securely, Kaspersky experts suggested that they among others do not share their PINs, passwords or any other financial information with anyone online or offline; avoid using public Wi-Fi to make any online transactions; use a separate credit or debit card to make online transactions; set a spending limit on the card which can help keep a track of financial transactions; shop from trusted and official websites and use a reliable security solution on all devices used for financial transactions because it helps to detect fraudulent or suspicious activity and check the security of visited websites. .