By 
By Bahle Gama
According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, scammers have siphoned away more than US$1 trillion globally in the past year, costing certain countries losses of more than 3 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP).
The WEF Global Cybersecurity 2025 outlook states that the entry of traditional organised crime groups into the cybercrime arena changes the character of the criminal market.
“Organised crime groups are accustomed to causing physical harm and are arguably less concerned about the risk created by attacking critical social services such as medical services.
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When this cultural change is paired with the scale provided by CaaS platforms, the range of organizations that could be targeted by attacks such as ransomware becomes wider.”
The surge in the volume and value of cyber-enabled fraud has attracted “traditionally” violent organised crime groups into the cybercrime market.
Therefore, the interaction of organised cybercrime with organized violent crime groups is changing the nature of cybercrime and greatly increasing its social impact.
“This is perhaps most starkly shown by the trafficking of more than 220,000 people to forcibly work in online scam farms in Southeast Asia, and with such farms engaging in the harvesting of data, disinformation, and social engineering to name a few capabilities, they are essentially becoming “criminal service providers.”
Last year, the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) reported that the Kingdom lost E12.4 million in cybercrime. It was further reported that a cyber-attack occurs every 39 seconds in the country, with the most prevalent cybercrime being mobile wallet scams.
These scams have led to Eswatini Mobile and MTN Eswatini incurring significant financial losses.
“We acknowledge that cybercrime is on the rise globally due to our increasing dependency on technology and the vast reach of the Internet.
The anonymity of the web complicates law enforcement efforts, allowing cybercriminals to operate with relative impunity.
The growing complexity of cyberattacks and the potential for significant financial gain motivate these malicious actors to refine their tactics. Thus, enhanced cybersecurity awareness and defenses are critical,” said ESCCOM CE Mvilawemphi Dlamini.
Meanwhile, GenAI tools are reportedly reshaping the cybercrime landscape by enabling criminals to refine their methods and automate and personalise their techniques.
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With 47 per cent of organisations citing their top concern surrounding GenAI as the advance of adversarial capabilities, cybercriminals are harnessing the efficiency of AI to automate and personalize deceptive communications.
On another note, 42 per cent of organizations experienced a successful social engineering attack in the past year, a number that can only increase with advances and the malicious adoption of AI.
