ZICTA STEPS UP WAR AGAINST INTERNET ABUSE

Fri, 22 Sep 2017 14:09:00 +0000

By Chikumbi Katebe

ZAMBIA Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) has intensified investigations into internet abuse with fraudsters duplicating Facebook profiles for senior government officials, including ministers.

ZICTA director for consumer protection Mofya Chileshe said there were six active cases in court concerning internet fraud and abuse of mobile phone services.

Mr Chileshe said there was so much criminality on the internet today which extended to mobile phones where many people had become victims of slander and cloned emails.

 He explained that ZICTA had embarked on a cleanup programme in the last three months which had resulted in major raids of suspected criminals to expose wrong doers through legal action in court.

“There have been unscrupulous people cloning other people’s emails, cloning Facebook profiles including the use of other people’s pictures and information from to commit crimes,

“We are no longer warning people, but instead, we want to do it the proper way by carrying out our own investigations and when we have enough evidence, we take them to court,” Mr Chileshe said.

He said there has been a big inspection by ZICTA to focus on various public complaints including following up companies said to be selling pre-registered sim cards to the public.

He said there were currently have six active cases in court while the regulator has over 25 under investigations including service provided involved in the sale  of pre-registered sim cards.

Mr Chileshe explained that ZICTA was working closely with the law enforcement agencies and other service providers in ensuring that there was proper dealings in the telecommunication industry.

He said the public must report the sale of pre-registered sim cards to get to the actual service provider involved.  ZICTA wanted to seal any loopholes which could interfere with the flow of information in Zambia.