The Federal Government has warned that cybercriminals are now using telegrams bots and google forms to perfect phishing.
The warning was given by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through a statement that it issued on Friday, May 14, 2021, via its official Twitter handle.
NITDA in its statement said that cybercriminals make use of free email services to obtain data of victims and then gain access to the data of linked bank cards.
What NITDA is saying
The statement from NITDA reads, “Hackers use legitimate services such as Google Forms and Telegram to obtain user data stolen during phishing attacks.
Various ready-to-go platforms which are available on the darknet are used to manage the entire process of the phishing attack and keep financial records linked to them. Such platforms are distributed under the cybercrime-as-a-service model, which subsequently leads to more groups conducting attacks.
Cybercriminals mainly resort to free email services to obtain data of victims (all info harvested on phishing websites is automatically sent) and gain access to the data of linked bank cards.”
What you should know
- Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit/debit card numbers.
- It is a cyber-attack disguised as an email or a text message to trick the email recipient into believing that the mail is for something that they need or want, a bank request, a mail from an eCommerce company, etc.
- Usually, emails like this request that the recipients click on a link or download an attachment. The idea is to trick the recipient into releasing sensitive data such as bank card details, and passwords.
- Once the recipient clicks on the link, the website harvests their personal information.
- In a 2020 report, Kaspersky Security Solutions reported that millions of Nigerians suffered cyber-attacks.
- The report showed that over a 7-month (January to August) period, Nigeria recorded about 3.8 million cyber-attacks.
Cyber-criminals Use Telegram Bots and Google Forms to Automate Phishing.#BeCyberSmart pic.twitter.com/sDaD1WklJJ
— NITDA Nigeria (@NITDANigeria) May 14, 2021
