Nigeria 16th Worst Affected By Internet Crimes — FBI

The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has
listed Nigeria among the world’s ‘top’ 20 countries worst affected
by internet crimes in 2020.

It named Nigeria as the 16th in its top 20 international victim
countries of online based crime.

The statistics were part of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint
Centre (IC3) 2020 Internet Crime Report released on Wednesday.

The report includes information from 791,790 complaints of
suspected internet crime in America —an increase of more than
300,000 complaints from 2019 — and reported losses exceeding $4.2
billion.

It also includes COVID-19 scam statistics.

According to the list, Nigeria with 443 victims and South Africa
with 1,754 victims were the only two Africa nations in the ‘worst’
20.

The top 20 countries and their number of victims are: 1. United
Kingdom 216,633; 2. Canada 5,399; 3. India 2,930; 4. Greece 2,314;
5. Australia 1,807; 6. South Africa 1,754: 7. France 1,640: 8.
Germany 1,578: 9. Mexico 1,164; 10. Belgium 1,023; 11. Brazil 951;
12. Philippines 898; 13. Italy 728: 14. Spain 618; 15. Netherlands
450; 16. Nigeria 443; 17. Pakistan 443; 18. China 442; 19. Colombia
418; 20. Hong Kong 407.

The global list excludes the United States, which state-specific
statistics are provided separately in the report and in the
accompanying 2020 State Reports.

According to the report, the top three crimes reported by
victims in America in 2020 were phishing scams,
non-payment/non-delivery scams and extortion.

Victims lost the most money to business email compromise scams,
romance and confidence schemes, and investment fraud.

It added: “Notably, 2020 saw the emergence of scams exploiting
the COVID-19 pandemic. The IC3 received over 28,500 complaints
related to COVID-19, with fraudsters targeting both businesses and
individuals.”

The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has
listed Nigeria among the world’s ‘top’ 20 countries worst affected
by internet crimes in 2020.

It named Nigeria as the 16th in its top 20 international victim
countries of online based crime.

The statistics were part of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint
Centre (IC3) 2020 Internet Crime Report released on Wednesday.

The report includes information from 791,790 complaints of
suspected internet crime in America —an increase of more than
300,000 complaints from 2019 — and reported losses exceeding $4.2
billion.

It also includes COVID-19 scam statistics.

According to the list, Nigeria with 443 victims and South Africa
with 1,754 victims were the only two Africa nations in the ‘worst’
20.

The top 20 countries and their number of victims are: 1. United
Kingdom 216,633; 2. Canada 5,399; 3. India 2,930; 4. Greece 2,314;
5. Australia 1,807; 6. South Africa 1,754: 7. France 1,640: 8.
Germany 1,578: 9. Mexico 1,164; 10. Belgium 1,023; 11. Brazil 951;
12. Philippines 898; 13. Italy 728: 14. Spain 618; 15. Netherlands
450; 16. Nigeria 443; 17. Pakistan 443; 18. China 442; 19. Colombia
418; 20. Hong Kong 407.

The global list excludes the United States, which state-specific
statistics are provided separately in the report and in the
accompanying 2020 State Reports.

According to the report, the top three crimes reported by
victims in America in 2020 were phishing scams,
non-payment/non-delivery scams and extortion.

Victims lost the most money to business email compromise scams,
romance and confidence schemes, and investment fraud.

It added: “Notably, 2020 saw the emergence of scams exploiting
the COVID-19 pandemic. The IC3 received over 28,500 complaints
related to COVID-19, with fraudsters targeting both businesses and
individuals.”