Onwunyi, Ugochukwu Mmaduabuchi
Department of Political Science,
Dennis Osadebey University, Anwai Road, Asaba
Email: ugochukwu.onwunyi@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The menace of internet fraud has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society and poses threats to the socio-economic development of the country. It is pertinent to state here that although internet fraud is a global phenomenon, the vulnerabilities and impact trends do tend to differ depending on the strength of the measures each country put in place to combat menace such as cyber laws and cyber protection technologies. Sadly, as shown in the arguments above, Nigeria ranks high amongst the internet fraud impacted countries however the country’s response to mitigate internet fraud is still very low due to inadequate internet fraud legislations, limited technology and lack of cyber security experts. The shortage of human capital in cyber-security hence becomes a major vulnerability factor in addressing Nigeria’s security needs to combat internet fraud and cyber threats emanating from cyber criminals. This paper is qualitative in nature as data collection was based on the secondary sources of data, while the society risk theory formed that analytic framework. Following these submissions, the paper concludes that efforts by the government and the citizenry geared towards curbing internet frauds must be reinvigorated as cyber security is crucial for maintaining the continuity of vital social services, preservation of public trust in information systems and promotion of socio-economic development in Nigeria. Following the conclusion reached in this study, the following recommendations have been proffered; the government should pursue aggressive public sensitization against internet fraud using the mass media and the promotion of personal cyber space security should be incorporated in the primary, secondary and tertiary education curriculum; individuals need to observe simple personal safety rules such as not disclosing to strangers personal effects and banking details such as credit card pins, bank account numbers, e-mail codes and use of antivirus on their systems against malware etcetera.
Keywords: Internet, Fraud, Human Security, Digital Age, Nigeria