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- South Africa’s cybercrime density rose by 7.8% from 2021 to 2022, resulting in the country’s rise to 5th place compared to 6th in 2021.
- South Africans experienced a total of 2k cybercrimes in 2022.
- The UK topped the list for cybercrime density with a staggering 4,371 cybercrime victims per 1 million internet users.
- Phishing was the most common cybercrime in 2022, with 300k reported victims.
- Investment fraud was the most financially devastating cybercrime in 2022, with an average loss of 108k USD per victim.
- 801k people fell victim to cybercrime worldwide, resulting in a total of ten billion dollars in losses.
- 56 out of 1M internet users in South Africa were hit by cybercrime, which places South Africa fifth in the world by cybercrime density, Surfshark’s study shows.
Last year, 56 out of 1M internet users in South Africa were hit by cybercrime, which comes down to a total of 2k South African cybercrime victims
Cybersecurity company Surfshark conducted research analyzing cybercrime density worldwide. South Africa’s cybercrime density rose by 7.8% from 2021 to 2022, resulting in the country’s rise to 5th place compared to 6th in 2021. The increase in cybercrime incidents in South Africa highlights the need for increased cybersecurity measures. Phishing was the most prevalent cybercrime worldwide in 2022, while investment fraud proved to be the most financially devastating.
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“Last year, 801k people fell victim to cybercrime worldwide, resulting in a total of ten billion dollars in losses. Because of how lucrative cybercrime is, there’s no reason to think cybercriminals will stop striking anytime soon. That’s why it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and build up your cybersecurity defenses, which goes for businesses and individuals alike”, says Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske, Surfshark spokeswoman.
The UK topped the list for cybercrime density with a staggering 4,371 cybercrime victims per 1 million internet users, followed by the US with 1,612 cybercrime victims per 1 million internet users, Canada with 156 victims per 1M internet users, Australia with 106 victims per 1M internet users and, finally, South Africa with 56 victims per 1M internet users.
What are the most common cybercrimes globally?
In 2022, phishing continued to be the most common cybercrime in the world with the highest victim count in the world – 300k. Online payment fraud was the second most common type of cybercrime, impacting 63k individuals, followed by extortion with 39k victims, tech support scams with 33k victims, and investment fraud with 31k victims.
What are the most financially devastating cybercrimes?
Investment fraud cost the world 3.3 billion USD in losses in 2022, making it the most financially devastating cybercrime in 2022. While it may not have been as widespread as phishing, a significant 31k individuals were duped by investment scams. Tech support scams are second on the list with 807M in losses, followed by confidence or romance fraud (736M in losses), online payment fraud (386M in losses), credit card fraud (264M in losses), and government impersonation (241M in losses).
36.4 billion USD were stolen by cybercriminals since 2001, and yearly losses have been on an upward trend throughout this whole period. In 2022 alone, 10.3 billion USD were stolen by cybercriminals, compared to 6.9 billion in 2021 and 4.2 billion in 2020. These days, with the soaring inflation rates and troubling economic situation worldwide, losing money to cybercrime is all the more devastating.
Witnessing the rising number of cybercrimes, Surfshark developed the Data Vulnerability Thermometer combining open-source FBI information and research algorithms. The online tool gives users their risk score, possible specific cybercrimes, and prevention tactics depending on the data points selected.
The Data Vulnerability Thermometer also contains descriptions, typology, tips, and statistics of 20 different internet crime offenses aimed at individual users. This encyclopedia also has extensive coverage of statistics on trends and patterns in the field of cybercrimes. Users can check global cybercrime density statistics, financial impact, yearly growth of cybercrime costs, victim count by age, and more: https://surfshark.com/research/data-breach-impact/statistics.
