The Anambra State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has alerted members of the public to be extra cautious in sharing their financial and personal information, as criminals seek to capitalise on the cost of living crisis to defraud their victims.
The State Commandant of NSCDC, Anambra State Command, Mr. Osuala Edwin stated this on Wednesday at a one-day training on “Fraud Awareness and Prevention” organised by the Anti-Fraud Unit of the command to build the capacity of officers drawn from the State Headquarters, 3 Area commands and 21 Divisional offices across the state towards sensitising the public to avoid the litany of emerging fraud scams and cyber-assisted crimes.
In a statement released by the command’s Public Relations Officer DSC Okadigbo Edwin, Mr. Osuala said the unit in collaboration with other security agencies and relevant stakeholders has been raising awareness about the range of schemes criminals are using to target and exploit people, steal their money or other property and cause incalculable harm on them. According to him, the Corps will utilise every available forum and platform to increase public awareness and educate the public about falling victim to online scams.
“Fraudsters are successful because they capitalise on a victim’s emotions, trying to get them to react without thinking. While law enforcement and partners continue to work to prevent and disrupt their activities, we need the public to learn how to protect themselves and always report. The essence of this training, therefore, is to equip you with the requisite knowledge to help educate residents of the state on the methods of online scams and ways to avoid falling victim to these syndicates” he said.
In a lecture titled” Fraud, Risk Awareness and Prevention” ACC Ukaobi Prominence said online crimes are on the ride as scammers continue to prey on people looking for either work or save as much money as they can or offset rising costs by making investments that promise high returns which in reality does not exist.
He warned the public to be cautious about certain emails, phone calls, or text messages either requesting their personal information or telling them about non-existing job openings.
“Phone calls or online messages that are unsolicited, asking for money or personal information and demanding a fast or immediate response is a red flag used by fraudsters to target people. Take a step back and think about what is being presented in front of you so you can better assess if you should follow through or not with those demands” said Ukaobi.
ACC Prominence advised the public not to be duped into becoming account mules and not to allow others to misuse their bank accounts for criminal purposes.
The training exercise ended with exposure to the participants, different kinds of investment fraud, extortion, phishing, merchandise scams, service fraud and vendor fraud.
Dominica Nwabufo
