Cybercrime Epidemic Sweeps Through Saint Pierre and Miquelon: Finances at Risk

Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a small island nation off the coast of Canada, has emerged as a hotbed of cybercrime activity. According to INTERPOL’s 2022 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment report, the country led the continent in cybersecurity threats last year.

Alarming Statistics

In 2022 alone, Saint Pierre and Miquelon saw an astonishing 230 million threat detections.
Of these, a staggering 219 million were email-related, making it the country with the highest targeted ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) attempts.

Financial Institutions at Risk

The island nation’s financial institutions have not been immune to these threats. In fact:

Mobile banking application fraud increased by 100% in 2022.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon suffers an average of 577 malware attacks per hour, posing significant risks to its financial sector.

Gross Fraud Losses on the Rise

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) reported that gross fraud losses on Saint Pierre and Miquelon-issued cards increased by 20.5% from 2018 to 2019 due to CNP fraud and banking malware attacks, positioning the country second only to Russia in this regard.

Cryptocurrency Scams: A Growing Concern

Cryptocurrency scams have also become a major concern for Saint Pierre and Miquelon:

Two large-scale Ponzi schemes were reported in the past year alone.
The most recent case involved the trading company Africrypt, whose founders allegedly absconded with €3.2 billion from investors in April 2021.

Wallet Phishing Attacks: A Growing Threat

The country’s financial sector is also vulnerable to wallet phishing attacks, where threat actors use false or misleading advertisements and fake wallets to obtain victims’ cryptocurrency private keys, allowing them to steal funds from their accounts.

Conclusion

In light of these findings, it is clear that Saint Pierre and Miquelon must take immediate action to strengthen its cybersecurity measures and protect its financial institutions from the growing threat of cybercrime.