Mobile fraud continues to ravage African users, with the recent “State of Mobile Fraud in Africa” report by Evina revealing that 19% of mobile payment transactions between January 2021 to June 202 were made without the user’s consent from.
Professional cybercriminals from around the world targeting Africa’s one billion mobile phone users also remain a significant problem in particularly vulnerable countries such as Angola and Egypt where 34% and 25,5% of mobile transactions were identified as suspect, respectively.
The latest Evina report helps mobile stakeholders understand the scale of the mobile fraud challenge with key data on mobile fraud in Africa. “When it comes to fighting fraud, it is crucial to put in place a strategy backed by insightful data. That’s why we are committed to providing the best quality, most valuable and up-to-date information to fight fraud and grow your mobile-centric business in Africa,” says David Lotfi, CEO of Evina.
He explains that direct carrier billing (DCB), where users are billed for purchases directly on their phone bills, is primarily impacted by two forms of mobile fraud in Africa: malicious apps, that secretly contain malware and are programmed to make payments on behalf of the user without his knowledge; and clickjacking, where a fraudster intercepts a legitimate click and unknowingly directs the user to a website where sensitive financial and other details can be stolen.
The Evina report details that malicious apps made up 17,6% of all fraudulent attempts across Africa in the first six months of the year while long-standing clickjacking accounted for 62,3% of all attempts. Another mobile-based fraud, remote-controlled fraud, is listed in the latest Evina report as being responsible for 7,6% of all fraudulent mobile activities targeting African cellular users. This is where malware takes control over devices to make fraudulent payments. Three other types of fraud identified in the report accounted for almost 10% of mobile fraud.
The top three malicious apps in Africa in the first half of this year – according to the report – are funny SMS, Asters Wallpapers and Magic Photo Editor, each downloaded over more than 10 000 times. These apps have already been removed from the app store.