SOCIOECONOMIC UNDERPINNINGS OF 'YAHOO-YAHOO' EXPLOITS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA (original) (raw)

SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND THE PRODUCTION OF YOUNG CYBER CRIMINALS IN NIGERIA

The advent of information and communication technology (ICT) and the ensuing diffusion of internet in sub Saharan Africa have ushered in a new form of criminality commonly referred to as Nigerian scams or yahoo-yahoo.In recent times, there has been an upsurge inthe number of youths involved in cybercrime. Using Robert Merton’s Social Strain Theory as a theoretical premise, the paper posits that socio-cultural pressure on youths to achieve pecuniary success and frustration arising from a sense of discrepancy between individual aspirations and legitimate means to realize these ambitions lead to the emergence of yahoo boys sub-culture in Nigeria. The paper recommends among other things value re-orientation, the enactment of appropriate legislation and job creation to cater for the army of frustrated youths who are easily recruited into this criminal enterprise owing to unemployment and structural inequality in the Nation

The Dark Side of Connectivity: A Socio-Ethical Exploration of Internet Fraud and Nigerian Youth

Agidigbo: ABUAD Journal of Humanities, 2024

Abstract Internet fraud, popularly known as ‘yahoo-yahoo’ in the Nigerian parlance, reverberates across the Nigerian state and keeps gaining approval as somewhat permissible as days go by. Humongous media reports abound as well as other surreptitious or conspicuous activities of internet fraudsters in Nigeria. A great deal of Nigerian youths have embraced it and has jettisoned hard work, process, building from the scratch, integrity, compassion and pay little or no attention to education. This state of affairs has social and ethical implications for Nigeria as a state. With insights drawn from Robert Merton’s structural strain theory and Aristotle’s virtue ethics, this paper qualitatively examines the spate of indiscreet deals by criminally minded Nigerian youth and particularly mirrors its social and ethical implications. Data is gathered through interviews, observations and literal readings. Findings show that internet fraud, which is eating deep into the fabric of Nigeria has exacerbated the get-rich-quick syndrome, disrupted the smooth running of the nation and holds dire socio-ethical consequences for the future of the nation. This paper recommends that the government, family unit, as well as religious organizations must play salient roles in sensitizing, educating, guiding and sanctioning internet criminals for the good of society. This research contributes to existing knowledge by exploring the phenomenon of internet fraud in Nigeria through the lenses of sociology and ethics, yielding recommendations that stem from these disciplines to combat the problem. Key Words: Internet Fraud, Nigerian Youths, Yahoo-Yahoo, Ethics, Sociological

CYBER FRAUD, GLOBAL TRADE AND YOUTH CRIME BURDEN: NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

This paper examines the relationship between modern technology and the multiplicity of fraud. Specifically, it argues that the involvements of sizeable Nigerians in crime is not empirically tied to their dispositions and psychopathologies, these attributes are widely believed to be responsible for getting one into trouble with the law, but it rather identifies the socioeconomic deterioration mostly prevalent in the Nigeria society as the most explicable factor intensifying the participation of most Nigerian especially youths in cyber fraud. It borrows from the theoretical ideas of Derek Cornish and Ronald Clarke on the contributions of the environment to the incidence and the rising rate of crime globally. The paper finally proffers few pragmatic solutions to the problem of cyber fraud in the e-business environment. Fraud and Technology: An Overview Fraud is a generic term and embraces the multifarious means which human ingenuity can devise, which are resorted to by one individual to get an advantage over another by false representations. it includes surprise, trick, cunning, and unfair ways by which another is cheated (Singleton and Singleton, 2010:40). No definite and invariable rule can be laid down as a general proposition in explaining fraud. The boundaries demarcating fraud are those which limit human knavery (Webster, 1964). The most important to this paper is the aspect of fraud that affects technology as facilitator of crime. This form of fraud is a product of modernization on the one hand and globalization which culminated in advanced capitalism, on the other hand. As a matter of fact,

Causes of Socioeconomic Cybercrime in Nigeria

IEEE , 2016

— The causations of crimes that are relevant in the cyberspace concurrently impact in the physical space and vise versa. This paper aims to explore parents' perceptions of the factors that cause socioeconomic cybercrime in Nigeria. Despite a long-standing view that the juvenile offenders of today could become the hardened criminals of tomorrow, and the conclusions of a number of developmental theories on the stability of delinquency across the life course, the existing data on cybercrimes in Nigeria have principally been derived from studies involving university students. Yet, individuals' moral-standard-levels, which shape their offending capacities, are mostly developed in childhood. The empirical basis for this paper is face-to-face interviews with 17 Nigerian parents regarding children's vulnerability to involvement in cybercrime. Drawing upon qualitative data, this paper argues that a complex web of familial factors and structural forces, alongside cultural forces, explains the degree of cybercrime involvement on the part of Nigerian youths.

Youth Identity, Peer Influence and Internet Crime Participation in Nigeria: A Reflection

The increasing relevance of youth participation in the e-environment and invariably the use of cyber technology has been remarkably accentuated by many scholars. Lately, the affinity inherent in the triad of youth, cyber technology and e-business banding together to form the driving force of progress in the modern economy have also been considerably recognized. However, the unanticipated consequences of the synergy between each of these components are yet to be explored in details. This paper, having identified this gap therefore, explores an aspect involving the intent of youths in their utilization of cyber technology and locates this in the appropriation of the gains in the e-business environment to generate diverse desired ends. The existence of both standardized and non-standardized behaviours in the use of e-technologies has steadily increased the vulnerability of gamut of users in the cyber community. In cognizance of this development, this paper locates the surge in Nigeria's youth's interest in manipulating the Internet for private gains in expressive identity that is both promoting independence and creativity among the studied group. The theoretical anchorage links fraud attraction to the nature of the social psychological composition of the youths. Finally, the paper concluded that though the increase in technological innovations has been of tremendous advantages to the youth population and the society at large, it has also constituted serious challenges in terms of technologically enhanced crime. These crimes include the cyber fraud characteristic of the youth population in many developing nations. This study proffered some pragmatic solutions to the challenges relating to youth-cyber fraud connection.

Social Organization of Internet Fraud among University Undergraduates in Nigeria

Internet fraud is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of computer crime. The advent of the 'yahoo-boys' subculture in tertiary institutions has introduced another dimension of youth's involvement in cyber crime. Studies on Internet fraud in Nigeria have been biased to the emergence of the 'yahoo-boys' subculture while neglecting the importance of the structure sustaining it. Using the snowball sampling technique, 20 yahoo-boys were interviewed. Findings indicate that Internet fraud in tertiary institutions are socially organized and highly networked. It is increasingly becoming specialized and sustained by informal networks. This involves nefarious networking of fellow fraudsters and bank staffs. The latter leak vital customer details to yahoo-boys and facilitate payment without alerting security agencies; while the former arranges bail-out option in crisis period. The money is paid through domiciliary accounts, cheques, credit cards, Money Gram and Western Union. Cyber crime was reported to yield benefits in paying their school fees, acquire properties (cars and land), and sustain living. This informal network will continue to circumvent any genuine drive to stop cyber-criminality in Nigeria. The Government must address the fear of unemployment and check unbridled corruption, and integrate moral values into the body polity.

Cybercrime, its Adherent Negative Effects on Nigerian Youths and the Society at Large: Possible Solutions

International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering (ijasre), 2019

Every country has its fair share of security challenges, but when the state of insecurity increases by the day, and then there is a need for urgent action. In Nigeria, the introduction of these three major inventions; the Computers, the Internet and the Mobile telephones gave rise to a huge outbreak of cybercrimes. It could be very evident that criminals and fraudsters leverage the anonymity supplied by means of the Internet to defraud unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately, the current social, economic and political trends have left a sour taste in the mouth of the youths; particularly, those from poor social and economic backgrounds. Notably, cybercrimes are of different categories in Nigeria ranging from; Internet frauds, software piracy, hacking, online scam, ATM or Credit card fraud, virus dissemination, phishing, cyber-stalking, and cyber-defamation. The occurrence of a high rate of unemployment, harsh economic conditions and bad educational systems also contributes immensely to the proliferation of cybercrimes in Nigeria. This paper analyses the adherent effects on the average Nigerian youth and the possible solutions. With Nigeria venturing into the cashless society, there is an urgent need to reduce the cybercrime menace ravaging our dear country.

An Analysis of Young Adults Engagement in Cyber-Criminal Activities in Nigeria

F U O Y E Journal of Criminology and Security Studies (IJCSS),Department of Criminology and Security Studies. Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria, 2024

The rise in poverty coupled with unemployment may have motivated young adults in search of ways for survival in the country. Thus, this study analysed the perception of young adult's engagement in cyber-criminal activities in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. This cross-sectional study utilised the mixed method approach (QUAN+ qual) to administer a self-developed scale among two hundred and ten (210) consented young adults while eight In-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted among male and female participants in Odeda, Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North and Obafemi Owode in Ogun central senatorial district in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed respectively using percentages, means, standard deviation and multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance and thematically analysed. Majority, 81.1% of the respondents were aged between 18 to 26 years while 18.9% of the respondents fell within 27-35years years, more than average 50.5% were males. The data also showed that majority (84.8%) of the respondents were Christians, majority (86/7%) were singles while 51.4% of them were students. The educational status showed that majority (76.2%) of the respondents had up to National Certificate in Education , while the remaining respondents (23.8%) had up to master's degree. The six perceived independent variables had significant joint contribution to young adults engagement in cyber-criminal activities in Nigeria (F (5; 205) =70.090, Adj. R 2 =0.611) accounting for 61.1% of its variance. The relative contribution of the six perceived independent variables to the dependent variable, expressed as: poverty (β = .449, P <.05), unemployment (β = .554, P <.05), parental encouragement to go for Yahoo-Yahoo training (β = .331, P<.05), quest for getting rich syndrome (β = .477, P <.05), peer influence (β = .489, P <.05) and disappearance of cherished family and societal values (β = .358, P <.05) had significant correlations with young adults engagement in Yahoo-Yahoo (cyber-criminal) activities in Nigeria .Conclusion: Poverty, unemployment, parental encouragement to go for Yahoo-Yahoo training ,quest for getting rich syndrome, peer influence and disappearance of cherished family and societal values influenced young adult's engagement in cyber-criminal activities in Nigeria

Socioeconomic Correlates of Youths Involvement in Cybercrime: Perceptions of Residents in Onitsha South L.G.A, Anambra State, Nigeria

International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review, 2020

This study investigated factors responsible for cybercrime among youths in Onitsha South Local Government Area (L.G.A), Anambra State, Nigeria. The theoretical thrust for this paper is Social Strain Theory (SST). The study used the mixed-research design, and adopted multi-stage sampling procedure in the selection of 522 adults aged 18 years and above within the study area. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data, while the qualitative data were collected using In-Depth Interviews (IDI). The quantitative data collected were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics. The hypothesis stated was tested at 0.05 significant levels using the chi-square (χ 2) inferential statistics. On the other hand, the qualitative data were analysed using the manual content analysis. Findings of the study revealed that factors drive youths into Cybercrime in the area include: unemployment, peers influence, quest for wealth/get rich quick syndrome, poverty, greed, lack of internet security and poor parental supervision, among others. Consequently, it was recommended that programmes that can enable the youths achieve useful skills for selfemployment should be initiated to channel their mindsets towards more socially approved ventures.

CYBERCRIME AND THE CHALLENGES OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

This paper examined the nature and dynamics of cybercrime in Nigeria and its contribution to the socioeconomic development challenges in the country. The paper adopted the library research method as secondary data sourced fromarticles, journals, periodicals and publications were utilized. Anchored on the risks society theory, the paper argues that the internet revolution and the advent of mobile telephone technology in the country has posed unintended risks to the society evident in increasing surge in cybercrime such as yahoo-yahoo-advanced fee fraud, hacking, cyber stalking, virus attacks, espionage, character defamation, pornography, online gambling and so on. The paper concludes that widespread cybercrime has negative impact on the socioeconomic development of Nigeria as it tarnishes the image of the country at the global scale, deters foreign investments, and reduces confidence in the digital economy; with huge financial loses to individuals, business organizations and the government. Following these submissions, the paper amongst others recommends that the Nigerian government should enact comprehensive laws to curb cybercrime, while building the capacity of security experts on contemporary cyber technology; also the government should provide jobs and entrepreneurial development opportunities to engage young people to keep them away from crime, while pursuing vigorous enlightenment campaigns for the citizens on basic preventive and protective measures against cybercrime.