General News
Financial Cyberthreats Report Reveals 3.6Ttimes Surge in Mobile Banking Malware

As digital financial transactions continued to expand worldwide, cybercriminals shifted their focus toward mobile devices and crypto assets. According to Kaspersky’s new Financial Cyberthreats report, the number of users encountering mobile banking Trojans rose by 3.6 times compared to 2023, while crypto‑related phishing detections climbed by 83.4%.
Meanwhile, PC‑focused malware saw a decline in traditional banking attacks but a surge in crypto‑asset theft. This data comes from Kaspersky’s new Financial Cyberthreats report for 2024.
Financial phishing
In 2024, online fraudsters continued to lure users to phishing and scam pages that mimicked the websites of popular brands and financial organisations. Banks were the most popular lure in 2024, accounting for 42.6% of financial phishing attempts (compared to 38.5% in 2023).
Amazon Online Shopping was mimicked by 33.2% of all phishing and scam pages targeting online store users in 2024, making it the most popular online brand target for fraudsters.
Apple’s share of attacks dropped nearly 3 p.p. on last year’s figure to 15.7%, while Netflix scams grew slightly to 16%. Meanwhile, fraudsters’ interest in the Alibaba marketplace increased, its share going up from 3.2% in 2023 to 8% in 2024.
Payment systems were mimicked in 19.3% of financial phishing attacks detected and blocked by Kaspersky products in 2024 (19.9% in 2023). Once again PayPal was the most targeted brand, however, the ratio of attacks related to it fell from 54.7% to 37.5%.
Attacks targeting Mastercard, on the contrary, nearly doubled from 16.6% in 2023 to 30.5% in 2024. American Express and Cielo are the new entrants into the top five replacing Visa, Interac and PayPay.
In 2024, the number of phishing and scam attacks related to cryptocurrencies saw a whopping increase. Kaspersky antiphishing technologies prevented 10,706,340 attempts to follow a cryptocurrency-themed phishing link, an 83.4% increase over the 2023 figure of 5,838,499. As cryptocurrency popularity continues to grow, the number of attacks is only ever going to get larger.
Financial malware for PCs
While the number of users who encountered mobile banking malware increased, the share of those who were affected by financial PC malware decreased from 312,453 in 2023 to 199,204 in 2024.
Currently most financial PC malware that Kaspersky detects is targeting not online banking, but crypto assets. The banking Trojans that were most often detected in 2024 included ClipBanker (62.9%), Grandoreiro (17.1%), CliptoShuffler (9.5%) and BitStealer (1.3%). Grandoreiro is a full-fledged banking Trojan that targeted 1,700 banks and 276 crypto wallets in 45 countries and territories around the globe in 2024.
Mobile financial threats
In 2024, the number of users who encountered mobile banking Trojans grew 3.6 times compared to 2023: from 69,200 to 247,949, with malicious activity significantly increasing in the second half of 2024.
The most active Trojan-Banker family in 2024 was Mamont (36.7%). Its distribution schemes ranged from simple scams to complex social engineering plots with fake stores and delivery tracking apps.
“In 2024, financial phishing and scams increased in numbers and reached a new level of sophistication, unleashing waves of attacks on users. Fraudsters are increasingly leveraging fake brands and services to get user data, and the popularity of smartphones for financial transactions only fuels their appetite.
Looking ahead, we expect financial phishing to become even more personalised and targeted, focusing on exploiting vulnerabilities in everyday digital habits, which will demand increased vigilance and thorough approaches to protection,” comments Olga Svistunova, senior web content analyst at Kaspersky.
General News
Nigeria’s BNPL Market is Projected to Value @ $2.6B by 2030

Nigeria’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market is on a fast-growing trajectory and is predicted to be valued $2.61 billion by 2030, up 83% from $1.42 billion in 2024, owing primarily to the rapid emergence of fintechs in the country.
This observation was stated in EnterpriseNGR’s State of Enterprise 2025 report, which focuses on how fintechs are reshaping Nigeria’s business landscape through digital innovations, accessible credit systems, and mobile-first financial tools.
As a credit system, BNPL allows users to stagger payments for products and services, making it a key development driver in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
From 2021 to 2024, the BNPL experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 23.1%. Fintechs have contributed to the rapid growth by providing a range of flexible loan alternatives for e-commerce, retail, and services, bridging financial gaps for millions of disadvantaged Nigerians.
The report highlights how fintechs have contributed to Nigeria’s flexibility and resiliency by simplifying digital payments, automating invoicing and payroll systems, and democratising credit through platforms such as Renmoney and FairMoney.
The report also shows a significant rise in remittance inflows into Nigeria following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2024 policy adjustments.
According to the report, by 2024, Nigeria boasted over 400 licensed digital lenders who extend collateral-free credit to those commonly excluded by banks.
General News
FG, Netherlands Partner on Digital Migration for NIS

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) strengthened bilateral relations with the Netherlands’ government through an agreement targeted at improving migration governance and border security.
This partnership was confirmed during a meeting at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, which was attended by a Dutch team led by Jurgen Bartelink, Chargé D’Affaires of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria.
The meeting focused on increasing bilateral migration cooperation and came after the comptroller general of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, paid a working visit to the Netherlands.
Under the agreement, the Dutch government pledged to continue supporting technology-driven solutions targeted at boosting Nigeria’s border control systems and improving migration management.
During the Netherlands Embassy diplomats handed over essential operational tools, such as Edison Software licence keys and the Passport Examination Programme Manual App.
According to NIS spokeswoman ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, “The partnership focuses on enhancing bilateral collaboration on migration management and reviewing ongoing capacity-building efforts.”
Bartelink, Chargé d’Affaires of the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, underlined the Netherlands’ commitment to helping Nigeria’s continuing border security and migration reforms.
Also speaking, Rob Bokhoven, head of international affairs, repatriation, and deportation services at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, emphasised the country’s strong bilateral relations and announced plans to share a mobile border software solution with the NIS.
Receiving the equipment, Nandap said the delivery of the gadgets would boost West African country’s border security, significantly improve the service’s document verification border management capabilities and support the implementation of Nigeria’s National Migration Policy.
“The engagement will further reinforce the strategic partnership between Nigeria and the Netherlands advancing shared goals in migration governance, border security and international cooperation,” she added.
General News
AfDB Cuts Nigeria’s Growth Projection to 3.2%

Peter Enogb, principal country economist, African Development Bank (AfDB), says the rise in global uncertainty, emanating from increases in global trade tariffs, has slowed Nigeria’s projected growth to 3.2% in 2025.
“Without this level of heightened uncertainty, our projections would probably have been somewhat higher. We’ve reduced our projections for Nigeria. We initially were projecting 3.5% – 3.6% growth in 2025.
“But given the current situation, our models are showing that we’re taking a more cautious approach. So that’s why we produced this and, of course, the main driver is uncertainty in the global economy,” Enogb said.
He said this at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Country Focus Report (CFR) on Thursday.
AFDB projected that real GDP growth would hit 3.1% in 2026. Following the 2024 consumer price index (CPI) rebasing, with lower weights for food items, the inflation rate is expected to reduce over the medium term to 24.7% in 2025 and 17.3% in 2026.
As imports start to rise over the medium term, the current account is projected to decline to 3.9% of GDP in 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed for the second consecutive month to 22.97% in May. This is down from 24.48% at the start of the year
This is contrary to the World Bank projection that Nigeria’s economy would record steady growth of 3.6% despite the shift in the global trade dynamics.
Joseph Ogebe, head of research and development at Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), also said that global uncertainty had been very high in recent times, resulting from the Trump 2.0 effect.
“And also with the recent war between Israel and the international community, we’ve seen what’s happening to oil prices. Even with the call-off of the war, we’ve seen the effect on oil prices too, which has implications on the fiscal side. So it has implications for the general economy,” he said.
The head of research at NESG said that rather than focusing on just growth, what should be looked at is a strategy called growth with depth.
“Growth with depth means that your growth must be diversified, export-led, productive, and technologically driven,” he said.
Ogebe said that if the Government works towards adopting a strategy of growth with depth, there is a tendency for the government to move towards its goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The report revealed that the country’s recent policy moves, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and tax reforms, reflect a commitment to long-term transformation.
However, it also pointed out that at about 13%, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in West Africa, noting that fiscal reforms are urgent.
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