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Youth Participation In Social Media Fraud; Problems, Effect And Solution
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In Nigeria, perpetrators of this crime who are commonly referred to as
“yahoo yahoo boys†take advantage of e-commerce system available on the
internet to defraud victims who are mostly foreigners thousands and
sometimes millions of dollars. They fraudulently represent themselves as
having particular goods to sell or that they are involved in a loan
scheme project. They may even pose to have financial institution where
money can be loaned out to prospective investors. In this regard,
persons and organization are duped or have fallen victims. However,
these are not the only techniques used by these social media fraudsters,
there could be others which the research intends to unravel.
Attempt
to address social media fraud by various governments and international
organizations have not been successful owing to the fact that the
identities of the perpetrators of social media fraud remain ambiguous
and inadequate. A study by Zero Tolerance (2006), indicates that social
media fraudsters are usually within the age bracket of 18 to 30 years
and they indulge in the crime in order to survive and have a taste of
good life. Noting these observations, there is need to identify more
attributes/characteristics these social media fraudsters possess and
what are other causes since it have been acknowledged that a good taste
of life is a major factor.
Consequently, many countries have
intensified efforts in curbing the excesses of social media fraudsters.
Nevertheless, efforts have been made by the Federal Government of
Nigeria to curb the menace of the crime too. For instance, according to
Awe (2009), the government of President Olusegun Obansanjo in 2003 set
up a working group known as the Nigeria Cyber Crime Working Group (NCWG)
to address this phenomenon since the loss suffered by both consumers
and investors creates serious credibility and image problem to the
country. Similarly, according to Abdulhamidet al, (2011), in Nigeria, a
bill title “Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure bill†is
presently been prepared to deal specifically with the menace of social
media fraud. The Economic and Other Financial Crime Commission (EFCC)
and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) have also played vital roles in
curbing this menace. To support their efforts, Microsoft and other
internet related organizations like PARADIGM Initiative Nigeria,
Background Check International (BCI) and the Internet safety,
Security
and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (ISSPIN) have also assisted to curb
the maladies (Awe, 2009). In spite of all these efforts, social media
fraud in Nigeria is still on the increase. The situation raises a
question on the type of social media fraud that is on the increase and
remedy to solve the menace. Consequently, base on the above statements
the research work was designed to provide answers to the research
questions raised and also to suggest solutions to the problem.
1.3 Research Questions
What is the pattern of social media fraud in tertiary institutions in Zaria?
What are the social attributes of those involved in social media fraud in tertiary institutions in Zaria?
What are the factors responsible for social media fraud in the study area?
What are the types of social media fraud common among social media fraudsters
in tertiary institutions in Zaria?
What are the consequences of social media fraud in the study area?
How can social media fraud be curtailed?
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