Today’s thieves use computers and phones, not Guns

It has been observed that cyber crimes in Fako Division and Cameroon in general are perpetrated mostly by students.

“Seventy percent of cyber criminals are students,60 percent are found in the Universities of Buea, Bamenda, Douala and Yaounde.”

These statistics were given during a talk by Dr. Calvin David Banga Mbom, Director of Networks and Information Systems Security, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, in a seminar organised by the University of Buea, UB, on ‘Cyber Criminality and Terrorist Acts’ on November 13.

The seminar, which was chaired by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea Dr. Nalova Lyonga, was attended principally by experts, judicial and security officers of the Southwest Region. The objective was to get participants know the perpetrators of cyber crimes and how to track them.

UB expert, Joan Wacka, told participants that there must be collaboration among institutions, the judicial and security officers must be well trained on cyber crimes, while victims of such crimes should make themselves known.

To the VC, cyber criminality is on the rise and there are a lot of people guilty of this.

“It is a pity that children as young as those getting into the University are already in such crimes,” the VC observed. Talking to the press, she said there have been cases of some students who tried to defraud the system by bringing false certificates and receipts of other people so as not to pay fees. She said cyber crimes are one of the reasons for some students’ reluctance to go to class.

“This whole thing is happening because young people are looking for quick money and when you are looking for quick money, you can’t go to class,” she stated.

The State Counsel for Fako, Justice Maureen Chibili asserted: "Criminals will never get away with it," as long as what they use is digital, no matter how long it takes, they must be tracked down, she said, adding that there have been 50 registered cases already at the State Counsel’s chambers.

Chibili told The Post that, through seminars, many people would become aware of such crimes, when all the actors work as a team. “There are certain cyber crimes which are not identified in the law, for instance, electronic spam, electronic blackmail, cyber stalking and so on. She advised youths to use their electronics responsibly.

Barrister Elizabeth Atemnkeng said the seminar was very enriching because it gave the rate of cyber criminality.

“The issue of tapping knowledge from these criminals to enrich our system is worth trying, but the problem is the conflict of investigating cyber crime; you are invading into some other person’s privacy which is covered by the law. How can we reconcile these two, is what we have to think about at the end of the day,” Atemnkeng stated.

At the end of the seminar, participants were impressed and recommended that such seminars should be organised annually.