Pathways, pressure, and profit: adaptive innovation and strain in a convicted cybercrime academy called Hustle Kingdom

This research offers the first empirical examination of the “Hustle Kingdom (HK)” phenomenon. Hustle Kingdoms are underground cybercrime training centers in West Africa that recruit and train young men to become digital fraudsters. The empirical foundation of this study draws on case files from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concerning the prosecution and eventual conviction of the proprietor and students of a Hustle Kingdom. Ethnographic field notes and informal conversations with relevant authorities supplement this dataset. It examines the significance of Merton’s Strain Theory, focusing on the innovation mode of adaptation, to understand how economic pressures and socio-fabric elements of society drive individuals toward illicit entrepreneurship. Our findings reveal key characteristics of these academies, including their structure, recruitment and governance strategies, motivations, indirect enablers, and prosecutorial challenges. While this pioneering investigation positions Hustle Kingdoms as an alternative route to economic mobility for many youths, it situates Hustle Kingdoms within broader processes of deviant innovation and informal economic adaptation. The study concludes by reflecting on the broader ecosystem of subtle enablers.