Factors Responsible for Students’ Involvement in Internet Fraud as Expressed by Tertiary Institution Students in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Internet fraud is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of cybercrime. It has become rampant among students generally because they make use of different Internet devices in schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud as expressed by tertiary institution students in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud questionnaire (FRSIFQ) was used to obtain relevant information for this study. The instrument was validated and the test re-test method was employed to determine the reliability and it yielded a co-efficient of 0.72. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used in selecting respondents for the study. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select three tertiary institutions and 315 respondents that participated in the study. Three null hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research questions were answered using mean ratings while t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the major factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud were inadequate employment opportunities after school, peer pressure, economic challenges, and moral decadence, among other factors. The findings also showed that there is no significant difference in the factors responsible for students’ involvement in Internet fraud as expressed by tertiary institution students in Ilorin on the basis of gender, place of residence and family type. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended, among other things, that the government should provide worthwhile employment opportunities for students after school. The government of Nigeria should also improve the standard of living of the average citizen so as to overcome the economic challenges faced by the masses in general.