STAFF REPORTER
A research done by a global company, shows that Namibians are among the highest number of African citizens falling prey to phishing scams online.
The research shows that a good number of Namibians have fallen victim to scams by email, short message services if email in one way or the other in the last year.
TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries, including Namibia.
The latest TransUnion study shows that Namibia and Kenya have the second highest percentage of respondents who said they fell victim to email, online, phone call or text messaging fraud in the second half of 2024 among countries surveyed in Africa.
Zambia had the lowest percentage of consumers who said they fell victim to fraud in the countries surveyed across the continent.
In their recent research held from 21 November to 11 December 2024, Trans Union indicated that Namibians from all walks of life that were interviewed confirmed that they had been targeted for phishing scams by email, online, phone call or text messaging.
Out of a wide sample conducted 11% of Namibians said that they had become victims of online scanning.
“Among those who said they were targeted, the most common reported schemes were vishing, where fraudulent phone callers try to induce the user into sharing data (30%), phishing, where fraudulent emails, websites, social posts or QR codes are meant to steal personal data (24%), and third-party seller scams on legitimate online retail sites (22%),” the survey said.
In a separate question from that same survey, nearly one third (31%) if interviewed Namibians said that they had lost money to email, online, phone call or text messaging fraud in the last year.
“ One third (33%) of those who said they lost money reported it happening from stolen credit cards or fraudulent charges. This was followed by 27% who lost money via third-party seller scams on legitimate online retail sites, and 21% who lost money via phishing,” said the survey.
The findings came from research used for building the newly released TransUnion shows that Namibian consumers continue to be targeted by fraudsters.
“Namibia has a 110% mobile phone penetration rate, with peopleusing mobile phones to conduct their everyday business, connect with friends, or keep in touch with family, so it’s easy to understand why digital fraud would be such a common tactic among fraudsters targeting this region,” said Amritha Reddy, senior director of fraud solutions at TransUnion Africa.
COMMENTS