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In an interview last Thursday, national police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri said the development of technology had led to sophisticated cyber crime.
He said the police were forced to intensify technical training in terms of use of Internet, computers and other technical aspects associated with technological advances.
“Internet fraud has taken centre stage in crime as people are being duped through it. As police, we have to contend with crime that takes place in cyber space, which is a challenge,” said Supt Phiri.
“The police force has been forced to go a step up to be able to fight the challenges brought about by technology and capacitate itself through the use of technological advances.”
Supt Phiri said in most cases, bogus business people would advertise on the Internet about certain products or services and people would either pay or buy these products only to realise later that the business would have been created on the Internet.
He said recently a “bogus” Internet dealer advertised online that there was a Zimbabwean company that wanted diamond cutters and these were only found in South Africa.
Supt Phiri said a local business person went on to buy the diamond cutters only to discover later that there was no market for them in the country and the South African company from where he bought them belonged to the alleged Internet fraudsters.
“Cyber space crime involves cases of buying and selling of adverts on the Internet where those pretending to be dealers would demand proof of payment. Because people these days trust Internet transactions in buying cars or other gadgets, some end up being duped.
“As a result of this, we had to make our Criminal Investigations Department section undergo training on the use of Internet and computers to be able to fight this type of crime.”
He said the police force was also intensifying awareness campaigns around communities.
“Because of our deployment, crime is manageable in Zimbabwe compared to other countries in the region. We do not do random deployments but we are guided by what is taking place on the ground.
“At the just ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair we were not just exhibiting but we were educating members of the public on different kinds of crime and how they can assist the police,” said the police spokesperson.
Supt Phiri said the police force was concerned about the number of cases involving disappearance of children, with about six going missing both in Harare and Masvingo recently.
He appealed to members of the public to avoid leaving children unattended when travelling or attending functions.
“Crimes against children have been the major concern of late as minor children have gone missing. A child went missing at the Harare Agricultural Show grounds and another at Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa’s gathering.
“We are not sure of what mechanism could be used but special care has to be taken by both parents and guardians. We cannot give huge figures but even if one child goes missing that is a major concern. Three went missing in Harare and three in Masvingo and that number could reach 10 soon,” said Supt Phiri.
He urged parents to leave children in the custody of trusted people when travelling, adding that most of those children falling victim were being abused by relatives or people known to them.
“Parents are not doing enough to protect their children in terms of the Child Protection and Adoption Act, which says it is mandatory for a parent or guardian to take responsibility of a child yet we see some are left in the custody of people who end up abusing them. A majority of abusers are people known to the children like uncles and friends,” said Supt Phiri.
Online Reporter