The Dark Side Of The Cashless Economy

Problems have solutions. Coronavirus was a problem. We got rid of it. Ebola came. We conquered it. We are still struggling with poverty, pollution, election rigging, and japa (migration). These problems are without solutions. We have not found solutions to these problems. They are invincible. Why are they invincible? Look at the man in the mirror. 

On The One Hand

Another invincible problem is electronic fraud. It follows cash. We cannot kill it. We can only minimise it. We can turn the other cheek. Pretend it does not exist. And get caught in the dark side of the cashless economy. Well, in case you have forgotten, cyber-attack is sophisticated. Cybercriminals have developed insidious ways to breach your networks. That is why they have continuously gained access to your identity, clone your corporate account, and hijack your wallet.

In case you do not know, electronic fraud committed against business and individual accounts is a threat. Cybercriminals can drain your funds in minutes. For instance, a C-suite executive in one of the switching companies got a taste recently. Ernal, that is his real name spelt backwards, was engrossed in a meeting when he received a foreign. The caller was a friend. His mobile app would not respond.

He was in a logjam. N250,000 would fix it. Could Ernal send him the fund? He would return it once his mobile app completed its madness. Sure, enough, he sent the fund. When his meeting was over and the cloud settled, Ernal called the number. Switched off. The story is clear. He was a victim of electronic fraud. He wrote his sad story on his Twitter handle. That is one side of the bad coin. The story is endless.  

Before putting this writing to bed, an email from Remita.net dropped. It was on cyber fraud. It said while most organisations consider the direct risk of cyber threats to their business through cyber assaults, known vulnerabilities, and security flaws, ‘we acknowledge that customers constitute a bigger danger to the business and themselves. In many circumstances, a customer’s weak cybersecurity practices might lead to a compromise.’  

Ernal was not a victim of phishing, social engineering, access control, or password. He was distracted. According to Remita.net to avoid falling into the hands of cybercriminals, beware of message contents, suspicious attachments, personal information, fake URLs, poor spelling etc. Above all, it advised, by remaining vigilant and following these highlighted best practices, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to such attacks. 

On The Other Hand

The Committee of e-Business Industry Heads, CeBIH, said it would collaborate with private and public sector agencies to tackle electronic payment fraud. The body would do this to restore consumers’ confidence in the cashless system. CeBIH Chairman, Celestina Appeal had said recently.

Fighting electronic payment fraud is not the responsibility of all. It is not the responsibility of fraudsters to prevent fraud. It is not the responsibility of one bad egg in the bank to prevent fraud. It is the responsibility of the regulator and a few good people in the system to ensure electronic fraud and fraudsters do not have a field day.  

 According to her, the promotion of a unified front in combating fraud through the active collaboration of providers of financial services, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, and regulators, has become imperative in restoring the confidence of consumers in the Nigerian payment system.

She added that CeBIH is committed to leading the engagements and interactions with the identified partners to harness capabilities across the ecosystem into the Nigerian payment system of the menace of fraud.

In The Short Term

How can we ensure people use technology well? It is a vicious circle. If we do not contain the dark side of the cashless economy, or support the infrastructure, the citizen will resort to using cash.

There are many inherent dark sides of the cashless economy. A blade will manicure your nails. Or it can slit your throat, ending a life. Technology is not malicious. Some minds can make it perform malicious activities. That is a problem.

What Is The Solution?

Do not ask me!