More than half of everyone online experienced some form of cybercrime last year. That single statistic from a new global cybersecurity report puts the scale of the problem in sharp relief, and Nigeria’s rapidly growing internet population sits squarely inside it.
According to a survey conducted by Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity company, over three billion internet users encountered scams, data leaks, or other cyber threats in the past 12 months. That figure represents more than 56 percent of the global online population, meaning cybercrime is no longer a risk that affects a small, unlucky minority. It is now something the majority of internet users encounter at some point.
Nigeria’s own internet numbers make this global picture very local, very quickly. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, active internet subscriptions in the country reached 154.35 million as of April 2026, with broadband penetration hitting 55.67 percent.
Those numbers reflect real progress in digital inclusion across the country. But they also mean a growing pool of Nigerian users is exposed to the same cyber threats the Kaspersky report describes. More people online means more potential targets for phishing attacks, fake websites, data breaches, and AI-generated scams.
One of the most significant shifts highlighted in the report is how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way cybercriminals operate. AI tools are now being used to generate convincing phishing messages, create realistic fake websites, and produce deepfake audio and video content designed to trick people into handing over money or sensitive information.
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This is not a future concern. These tools are already being used in active fraud campaigns, making scams harder to detect and easier to scale. A criminal who previously needed significant technical skill to run a convincing fraud operation can now use widely available AI tools to do the same thing far more quickly and at a much larger scale.
Kaspersky’s own data provides a window into how many threats are circulating online at any given moment. The company says its systems blocked more than 140 million phishing attempts in just the first quarter of 2026 alone.
That figure only covers what was caught and stopped. It says nothing about the attacks that bypassed security tools entirely and reached real users. For every blocked attempt, an unknown number of phishing messages, fake links, and fraudulent pages made it through to someone’s inbox or browser.
The report also highlighted how cybercriminals use major global events as hooks for fraud. With the FIFA World Cup taking place in 2026, Kaspersky flagged a rise in World Cup-themed scams, including fake ticket sales, fraudulent merchandise shops, and phishing pages disguised as official tournament websites.
This is a well-established pattern. Any large global event, whether a sporting tournament, a product launch, or a public health emergency, tends to attract fraudulent activity that exploits the public’s interest and urgency around that event.
Social media platforms continue to be one of the most common environments where cybercrime reaches ordinary users. Fake online shops, impersonation accounts, fraudulent investment schemes, and phishing links distributed through posts and direct messages remain widespread across platforms used heavily by Nigerians.
This is consistent with other recent data. An earlier Visa Stay Secure report found that among Nigerians who experienced financial scams in the past year, 57 percent said the scam happened on a social media platform, a higher rate than scams happening through websites, online marketplaces, or shopping apps.
The combination of rising internet penetration, increasingly sophisticated AI-powered scam tools, and the widespread use of social media as an attack channel creates a specific kind of risk for Nigerian users. As more Nigerians come online for the first time, many may not yet have the digital literacy or security habits needed to recognise and avoid modern cyber threats.
This is not a reason to avoid the internet. It is a reason to use it more carefully. Basic habits like verifying websites before entering payment details, avoiding clicking unsolicited links even from known contacts, turning on two-factor authentication on every account that supports it, and being sceptical of deals or messages that create a sense of urgency, can meaningfully reduce the chance of falling victim to the kinds of attacks described in this report.
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When more than half of everyone online gets hit by a scam or data breach in a single year, it stops being a niche concern and becomes a mainstream public safety issue. Nigeria’s growing internet population means more Nigerians are sharing in both the opportunities and the risks of being connected. The question is whether awareness and good habits are keeping pace with the connectivity itself.
