Factors Influencing Involvement in Cyber-Frauds in West Africa and the Implications for Policy

Abstract Cyber-frauds and scams have become a major problem in the Global North, and there is evidence that a significant volume of it emanates from West African countries, such as Nigeria and Ghana. This paper offers rare and original insights into the scale of active fraudsters and their wider support in Ghana and Nigeria, based on 36 interviews with active fraudsters, law enforcement officials, government officials, and NGOs from these countries, as well as the victim countries. In doing so, it maps the many factors pushing young males into these crimes, including the status of scams; the attitudes of parents, friends and family; spiritual rationalisations, role models, popular culture, confraternities, combined with a lack of formal social control: all of which is underpinned by economic pressures. Consequently, it argues in some areas of West Africa, involvement in fraud in some communities has become normalised and is considered a normal vocation, which, as a consequence, has significant implications for policies to combat fraud. The article ends with a discussion of some of the policy options for tackling this problem and some of the challenges of pursuing them in an era where some governments, like the US and UK, are cutting aid to these and other countries. The paper also argues for more economic aid to create better opportunities for the youth in these countries, more education about these crimes to young people and more enforcement activity, among others.