NITDA warns Nigerian users of cyber threat linked to Spotify

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has warned Nigerians about a cyberattack in connection to Spotify. The agency emphasized that cyber threat actors are using the popular music streaming platform to promote harmful activities.

According to NITDA in its X post on Tuesday, these unidentified individuals exploit Spotify to advertise game hacks and spam links, thereby exposing users to all forms of cyber threats. They also promote pirated software (commonly referred to as ‘cracks’) and other malicious sites.

The agency explained that cybercriminals use spiteful promotions in playlist names and podcast descriptions on the platform. It added that these promotions are used to advertise game hacks for popular video games such as Fortnite, GTA, Apex, and Roblox. 

NITDA stressed that the perpetrators put unsuspecting users at risk by riding on Spotify’s web player results to improve the search engine visibility of their harmful websites and malware with which they perpetrate internet scams. 

NITDA then warned that the exploitation of Spotify could lead to scam exposures and phishing attacks. In addition, it brings about downloading malware that can compromise user devices and loss of personal and financial data during the process.

NITDA warns against unverified playlists on Spotify

NITDA advised users to be careful of unverified playlists and podcasts. Nigerians should also avoid engaging with playlists or podcasts that feature suspicious text in their descriptions.

The agency also warned that Spotify users should not click on unknown links and also update their Spotify app to the latest version to minimize vulnerabilities. It explained that websites depicting OpenAI’s popular AI, ChatGPT, are mostly tricking users into downloading harmful files or software to their devices.

Lastly, NITDA advised Nigerians to strictly adhere to cybersecurity cautions and stay vigilant. This will help in safeguarding their personal information and devices.  

Continued battle against cyberattack

The cyber threat alert by NITDA further raises concern about the continued fight against cyberattacks. For example, according to a recent report, Nigerian banks lost N53.4 billion in nine months to cybercriminals. This was revealed in the latest Fraud and Forgery report by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC).

According to the report which covers the first three quarters of 2024, the N53.4 billion stolen in the first nine months of this year was N44 billion more than the N9.4 billion that was stolen during the same period last year, representing a whopping 468 per cent increase over a year. 

On a quarterly basis, the report showed that cybercriminals started slowly in the first quarter of the year, stealing just N468.4 million. But the numbers will increase massively in the second quarter as the hackers stole a mind-boggling N42.8 billion representing a 9037.5 per cent increase.

The third quarter of 2024 witnessed a slowing down, with Nigerian banks losing N10.1 billion in the quarter, representing a decline of 76.4 per cent. The FITC report for Q3 is based on returns on fraud and forgery received cases from 30 deposit money institutions. 

Along with the increasing amounts of funds stolen by hackers, the FITC report also revealed that the number of fraud cases reported by Nigerian banks rose by 65 per cent. Between July and September alone, hackers attempted to steal N115.9 billion. This is up from N56.6 billion attempted in the previous quarter, representing a 104.8 per cent increase. 

Bank cards appear to be the most preferred instrument for fraudsters, as card-based fraud rose from 11,237 cases in the second quarter to 17,314 cases in the third. This represents an increase of 54.2 per cent. Cash-related fraud on the other hand appears to be witnessing an uptick as cases rose from 228 in the second quarter to 517 in the third. This represents a 125 per cent quarterly increase.

Read More: Hackers stole N53.4bn from Nigerian banks in 9 months as fraud cases rose by 65%.