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The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has warned Nigerians against falling victim to investment fraud, romance scams and sexual extortion, urging citizens to adopt safer online practices as cybercriminals increasingly exploit digital platforms to defraud unsuspecting victims.
The director of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), AIG Akaninyene Ezima, said public education and sensitisation remained critical to reducing cybercrime, stressing that preventing citizens from falling into the traps of fraudsters would make the work of law enforcement agencies easier.
Speaking during a cybercrime awareness programme in Abuja, said tackling cybercrime required more than arrests and prosecutions, noting that citizens must understand the risks associated with their online activities and learn how to protect themselves.
“It is not all about enforcement. This is more about sensitisation. This is more about letting the people know what they should and should not do,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, for supporting the centre, as well as other stakeholders who participated in the awareness campaign.
The director of the centre acknowledged the media’s role in public enlightenment, stressing that their partnership would help disseminate information about cybercrime prevention to a wider audience.
Ezima identified investment scams as one of the major forms of cybercrime reported to the police, particularly schemes that lure victims with promises of extraordinary returns on investments in the stock market and other financial ventures.
According to the director, victims were often shown online dashboards displaying steadily increasing profits, only to discover that they cannot withdraw their money after investing substantial sums.
He said some Nigerians had lost hundreds of millions of naira, while others had suffered losses running into billions of naira through fraudulent investment schemes.
The NPF-NCCC director also raised concerns about romance scams and the increasing incidence of sexual extortion, commonly known as sextortion.
He explained that fraudsters sometimes exploit relationships established online to obtain intimate photographs from their victims before threatening to publish the images when relationships deteriorate or victims refuse further demands.
Ezima urged Nigerians to exercise caution when sharing personal information, photographs and financial details online.
He warned against investment offers that promise unusually high returns, advising prospective investors to investigate the legitimacy of financial opportunities before committing their money.
“If an investment looks too good to be true, then it should be true,” he said, apparently cautioning against unrealistic offers.
He questioned the credibility of schemes promising monthly returns of 30 per cent when conventional savings interest rates in Nigeria are significantly lower.
The police chief also rejected the perception that cybercrime in Nigeria was perpetrated exclusively by Nigerians, saying the country had become a target for international criminal networks and that the police had arrested foreign nationals in connection with cybercrime cases.
He urged citizens to avoid providing criminals with opportunities to exploit their personal information, financial accounts and online relationships.
Also speaking, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Department of Logistics and Supply at Force Headquarters, DIG Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, said the awareness programme reflected the inspector-general’s broader approach to strengthening internal security.
Onwuemelie described cybersecurity as an important component of national security, noting that the programme was designed to educate Nigerians on the dangers confronting them in the digital space.
He said the week-long initiative culminated in the sensitisation exercise, which was intended to deepen public understanding of cybercrime and encourage safer online behaviour.
The managing director and chief executive officer of PalmPay Limited in Nigeria, Chika Reginald Nwosu, said the fintech company was supporting the police campaign because digital security must be accompanied by consumer education.
Nwosu said the company had partnered with the NPF-NCCC on the awareness initiative for the second consecutive year, adding that financial literacy was necessary to protect consumers and maintain a healthy digital financial ecosystem.
He urged customers to keep their personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords and one-time passwords (OTPs) confidential, warning that disclosing such information could expose their accounts to fraud.
“Building a well-secured digital platform is not enough. We also believe that consumer education, what we call financial literacy programme, is very important to protect the consumers and have a very healthy financial ecosystem,” he said.
Nwosu claimed that, based on the company’s internal investigations, about 85 per cent of fraud incidents it examined involved victims who had compromised their security information.
He said PalmPay had also introduced technological safeguards, including facial verification, to strengthen security on its digital platform and make it more difficult for fraudsters to operate.
The fintech executive maintained that a combination of technological protection and informed consumers would help reduce exposure to financial fraud.
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