MONROVIA – As Liberia rapidly expands its digital economy through mobile money, online banking and internet connectivity, security expert Martin Sele is warning that the country’s cyber defenses are failing to keep pace, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated online fraud and financial crime.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh -websterclayeh@frontpageafricaonline.com
The warning is contained in the fifth installment of a six-part series based on the Liberia Security Threat Report 2026, released by SafeHaven Strategies Consulting ahead of the planned Liberia National Security Summit (LNSS 2027).
Sele, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SafeHaven Strategies Consulting, said recent developments across Africa demonstrate how cybercrime has evolved into one of the continent’s fastest-growing security threats.
According to him, between December 2025 and January 2026, law enforcement agencies from 16 African countries conducted a coordinated eight-week crackdown on online fraud under INTERPOL’s Operation Red Card 2.0.
By the conclusion of the operation, authorities had arrested 651 suspects, recovered more than US$4.3 million, seized over 2,000 electronic devices, and dismantled more than 1,400 malicious servers and internet domains.
Investigators also uncovered high-yield investment scams, mobile money fraud, and fraudulent loan applications linked to more than US$45 million in losses and over 1,000 identified victims across Africa.
Mr. Sele described the operation as one of the clearest demonstrations of a threat that often leaves no visible destruction but carries significant economic consequences.
“SafeHaven’s Liberia Security Threat Report 2026 rates cybercrime as a Medium-High threat with a trajectory rising sharply – the same rising-sharply trajectory we assign to the Kush crisis. It earns that rating not because Liberia is currently a major cybercrime hotspot, but because the country is building the digital economy that attracts this threat faster than it is building the defenses to protect it,” Mr. Sele told FrontPage Africa.
Mr. Sele acknowledged that Liberia has made considerable progress in expanding digital financial services over the past five years.
He noted that the rapid growth of mobile money platforms, digital banking services and internet access has increased financial inclusion, accelerated payments, and improved access to credit and remittances for thousands of Liberians.
However, he cautioned that those same developments have created new opportunities for cybercriminals.
According to the report, Africa now hosts more than one billion registered mobile money accounts processing over US$1 trillion in transactions annually. As digital financial activity expands, cyber fraud continues to rise across the continent.
Mr. Sele cited estimates indicating that Africa loses approximately US$3 billion annually to cybercrime, while noting that the actual figure is likely much higher because many incidents go unreported.
“As Liberia integrates into these same regional financial networks, it inherits their vulnerabilities along with their benefits,” the report notes.
The report argues that cybercrime in Africa is driven less by weaknesses in technology than by the manipulation of people.
Mr. Sele said most cyber-enabled fraud relies on social engineering rather than hacking sophisticated computer systems.
These schemes include phishing messages, fake telephone calls posing as banks or service providers, SIM-swap attacks that hijack phone numbers, impersonation scams, romance fraud, and fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.
He warned that Liberia’s relatively new digital finance users make particularly attractive targets for cybercriminals.
“This matters for Liberia specifically, because it means the country’s exposure is driven less by the sophistication of its infrastructure than by the awareness of its users – and public awareness of these tactics remains low,” he said.
He added that fraudsters often do not need to compromise banking systems if they can convince customers to voluntarily disclose their personal identification numbers or security credentials.
Beyond financial losses, the report warns that cybercrime poses a serious threat to public confidence in Liberia’s digital economy.
Mr. Sele pointed out that mobile money depends entirely on public trust, and a major security breach could discourage citizens from using digital financial services, reversing years of progress in financial inclusion.
“The damage from a major incident would not be measured only in stolen funds, but in the citizens who abandon the formal digital economy and return to cash—undoing development gains that took years to achieve,” the report states.
The report also links cybercrime to broader national security concerns, noting that proceeds from online fraud frequently require laundering, connecting cybercrime with drug trafficking, corruption and other forms of organized crime.
SafeHaven’s assessment concludes that many African countries, including Liberia, continue to face significant challenges in combating cybercrime.
According to Mr. Sele, law enforcement agencies often lack the specialized skills, modern investigative tools and updated legal frameworks required to prosecute rapidly evolving cyber offenses.
While Operation Red Card 2.0 demonstrated the value of regional cooperation, he said it also revealed the enormous scale of cybercriminal activity that remains beyond the reach of individual countries.
“For Liberia, building cybercrime capability is starting from a low base, at the same moment the threat is accelerating,” the report indicates.
To strengthen Liberia’s cyber resilience, the report recommends that government and financial institutions take proactive measures before the threat escalates further.
Among the key recommendations are the launch sustained nationwide public awareness campaigns educating citizens about phishing attacks, fraudulent messages, PIN protection and scam prevention.
“Develop real-time fraud detection systems and shared blacklists among banks and telecommunications companies to identify and block suspicious transactions.
Modernize Liberia’s cybercrime legislation while strengthening the technical capacity of law enforcement agencies,” he intimated.
