10 countries with the highest number of online scammers in the world

Ever since the internet was created, many people have used it to defraud people with a lot of money.

From romance scams to identity theft, phishing scams, or invading a bank’s servers, there are different types of scammers out there.

What are some of the countries where most scammers reside?

1. Brazil
Brazil is renowned as the “scam capital of the world.” There are many scams in operation in Brazil, like romance scams, loan scams, fake Brazilian gold bars, in-person scams, and all stories used to manipulate people to part with their money

2. Pakistan
In Pakistan, scammers imitate military officials to defraud civilians. Many crime-fighting organisations issue warnings as a result of the regular military scams.

In Pakistan, scams and swindles have increased with the growth of informal online businesses. In 2020, hundreds of Pakistani women were scammed by Karachi-based entrepreneur Sidra Humaid, who ran online committees. Humaid claimed she had no means to pay off her committees. In 2020, over 100,000 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were robbed of 5.6 billion rupees ($19 million) by a Peshawar-based online investment company that promised high profits but disappeared without trace.

3. South Africa
Scammers in South Africa love to attack the financial system; the most famous scams are banking-related frauds. Phishing, browsing bogus websites, and receiving fraudulent SMS alerts of bank withdrawals or payments are very common in South Africa.

According to data from the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Cyber Security, banking-related frauds harmed South Africans the most in 2015.

4. Romania
Romania, despite its European privileges, has been known for its high number of fraudsters. After communism’s fall, the country experienced poverty and corruption. Scammers have deceived people through online dating, phishing, and buying non-existent items.

5. Venezuela
Since the country’s economic collapse, there has been rampant scamming, with the street value of dollars reaching seven times the government’s rate of VEF6.3 per dollar. Online dating scams and bogus government bonds are also popular in Venezuela.

6. Indonesia
Indonesia experiences a high rate of scams, not only among its citizens but also among people around the world. Since 2000, the number of bank clients defrauded by syndicates using illegally installed data-capture devices in bank machines has skyrocketed.

7. Nigeria
Scammers prey on those looking for love on dating websites, apps, or social media and use emotional manipulation to get contributions. Nigerians employ many deception methods, such as convincing gullible people about vast quantities of money in the banking system or inheritances and asking them to send their bank details to be money to be able to access the money.

8. India
Scams and scammers have increased in India. Phishing, password fraud, convincing victims to download screen-monitoring applications, and creating false UPI links and QR codes are all on the rise.

According to the Ministry of Finance, India recorded more than 250,000 incidents of internet fraud totaling $96 million between March 2018 and December 2021. Only $7.8 million has been retrieved so far.

9. China
The Chinese have a reputation for using technology to deceive people, such as persuading parents that their child can get into college despite bad scores if they pay. They also use Trojan viruses to infect the phones of couples by sending a message that says, ‘Click on this to see your husband’s mistress,’ thereby gathering passwords and images to blackmail families and many other formats.

10. Philippines
The Philippines is the third-most prevalent source of dating or romance fraud, behind Ghana and Nigeria. Many seemingly charitable cases are usually fraudulent. They are real people with real photographs and profiles who are looking for your support and will tell you anything to get your money. Because it’s mostly true, it’s more difficult to identify.