Cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky has revealed that its recent survey devoted to using dating apps during the pandemic, showed fraud is an increasing problem for those who use such platforms in Kenya. Almost 29% of them faced fraud attempts last year. Almost three quarter (72%) of them said the fraudster tried to get money allegedly for the arrival from a remote area, 63% allegedly because of a difficult life situation. Some Kenyan users encountered blackmail attempts. Thus, 25% said the fraudster threatened to leak or to publish intimate photos. A significant part of respondents talked about phishing attempts: 41% said that the fraudster tried to get personal data, for example asked to register on a particular website.
Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager, Kaspersky in Africa, said: “Our survey shows that 56% of users of dating services in Kenya faced fraud attempts more often since 2020 when the world knew about COVID-19. We all need to follow basic security rules to protect our privacy. Yes, there is still a dilemma, we would like to get to know new people and trust them but in the digital world we often do not know who is there, on the other side of the screen.”
Opil added: “We highly recommend not to share detailed information especially bank card details and selfie with documents, not to give the dating app access to your contacts and accounts in social networks. It is interesting that 9% create fake accounts for the same reason — they consider it a good security measure.”
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