Pathways and Motivations for Cyber Fraud Involvement among Female Undergraduates of Selected Universities in South-West Nigeria

Despite the enactment of the Nigerian Cybercrime Act in 2015, cyber fraud still remains largely pervasive among the youths, especially undergraduates. Against this background, this study examined the pathways and motivations for cyber fraud involvement among female undergraduates of selected universities in south-west Nigeria. It adopted the exploratory cum cross-sectional research design.  Social learning theory was employed as conceptual framework. Data were exclusively generated through in-depth interviews conducted with 17 female undergraduates selected using the snowball sampling technique. Results showed that female undergraduates got initiated into cyber fraud by their male relatives and associates. Financial gain and peer pressure were the major motivating factors for their involvement in the crime. Cyber fraud was seen by the students to be a source of income for meeting their own personal and relatives’ financial needs. A multi-dimensional approach is suggested as a way of effectively dealing with this form of crime.