News snippets from around the world

Human trafficking: biggest arrests in South Africa

South Africa is classified as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking, with more than 53% of the population vulnerable to the $150 billion (about R2.3 trillion) industry. This, according to anti-human trafficking non-profit organisation, A21, and the US Trafficking in Persons Reports, not only signifies that victims are trafficked out of the country, but also that foreign victims are brought into South Africa and some moved through the country. South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) have made several arrests in the fight against human trafficking with some particularly notable ones… (Source: www.iol.co.za)

Crime in South Africa – what the official stats don’t tell you

Statistics South Africa has published its latest Victims of Crime (VoC) survey, showing how thousands of crimes go unreported in the country. The survey gives supplementary perspective to the latest official crime statistics published by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in November, which showed a decrease in criminal activity over the last quarter – owing largely to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown regulations in effect over the period. South Africa’s official crime stats are based on incidents and crimes reported to police stations, as well as crimes discovered through police action. The data can only tell us about the crimes that go through official processes and does not necessarily give a reflection of the true crime levels in the country. (Source: www.businesstech.co.za)

A trillion dollars lost to cybercrime every year

Data collated by McAfee and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies highlights the growing impact of cybercrime. The world economy is now losing more than $1tn (approximately £740bn) to cybercrime every year, an increase of more than 50% on figures reported in 2018, and with two-thirds of organisations reporting some kind of cyber security incident in 2019, the average cost to an individual company has now topped $500,000. (Source: www.computerweekly.com)

Dismissal of ‘irrational’ Sars ‘rogue unit’ claims yet another legal blow for Mkhwebane

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has suffered yet another legal setback after her report into the existence of a “rogue unit” at the SA Revenue Service (Sars) was reviewed and set aside by the North Gauteng High Court. Mkhwebane had in July last year released the report, which investigated the alleged violation of the Executive Ethics Code by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan as well as allegations of maladministration at Sars under his tenure as commissioner at the tax collector. (Source: www.iol.co.za)

South African Police Service launches new city crime fighting initiative

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has launched a new crime fighting initiative to strengthen its efforts in the fight against crime in cities. The Integrated Safer Cities Concept is a first of its kind to be implemented in any city in South Africa. The National Safer City Concept is also being piloted in other identified cities which aims to see law enforcement agencies integrating and maximising on technology to fight crime more effectively. This platform sees the introduction of the first-of-its kind fusion centre. Its purpose is to maintain and establish a platform for information sharing through a collaborative approach among stakeholders through empirical information. (Source: www.businesstech.co.za)

Crime is killing USA’s cities — if we just move away, it will follow us

American cities are on the brink. Violent crime is spiking up astronomically, and every day brings grim new statistics. Last week, New York City reported a 95 per cent year-on-year increase in shootings for the first 11 months of the year. Last month, Washington, DC, hit 167 homicides, which means that the federal capital had more killings by November than it did for all of last year. The slay total is the highest in 12 years. And that was all before a 15-month-old was killed last week after unidentified gunmen opened fire on his father’s vehicle. Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Memphis and Minneapolis (the epicentre of the #DefundThePolice movement) are all setting new records. The blood splashed and bullet casings strewn across our streets spell disaster. (Source: www.nypost.com)

Cape residents call for an end to ongoing violence and crime as festive season nears

The recent arrests and confiscation of illegal drugs, firearms and ammunition in Cape Town have spurred citizens into calling for an end to ongoing violence and crime. With the festive season around the corner, police and law enforcement anti-crime initiatives are gaining momentum – and more support from residents to rid their streets of crime. Bonteheuwel councillor Angus Mackenzie said residents were setting up a safety plan in partnership with neighbourhood watches and law enforcement officers. “Our shooting/gang murder rate has declined sharply year-on-year due to the partnership between the community, my office and law enforcement, with a renewed focus on visible policing. Later this week, we plan to employ 20 community safety ambassadors to help keep Bonteheuwel safe.” (Source: www.iol.co.za)

Two police officers seriously injured in cash-in-transit heist

Two police officers were shot and injured during an early morning cash-in-transit heist in Rooiwal, near Hammanskraal last week. “Two Hammanskraal detectives were on their way to work when they came across the scene and were shot at by the suspects,” police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said. The attack, which reportedly occurred at Petroport, occurred before 07:00. “The officers were taken to Jubilee Hospital with serious injuries,” Muridili said. Wayne Alberts, a local resident, said two vehicles – a black Mercedes Benz and a BMW – forced the cash-in-transit vehicle off the road and a firefight ensued. “They blew up the vehicle with explosives, took the money and ran,” he said. (Source: citizen.co.za)

Unions, police reach restructuring deal to see more boots on the ground

Unions have given the South African Police Service (SAPS) the green light to embark on its restructuring programme. The initiative is intended to cut costs within the service, address a top-heavy structure, and to put more boots on the ground. (Source: www.citizen.co.za)

Hawks arrest printing company worker in investigation into matric maths exam leak

Cape Times: A man who works for a company that is contracted by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to print 2020 matric exam papers has been arrested in connection with the leaked Maths Paper 2. Themba Shikwambana, 31, was arrested last week following a Hawks serious corruption investigation for alleged theft of the Maths exam paper. (Source: www.iol.co.za)

Three nabbed for business email compromise fraud scam of R11.9m worth of laptops

Three men were arrested on fraud-related charges and possession of suspected stolen property last week. According to Colonel Katlego Mogale, the suspects were arrested following an operation conducted by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit in Johannesburg in collaboration with US Law Enforcement Agencies. The suspects, aged 31, 34, and 40 were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud-related crime. “During September this year, the suspects allegedly created a fraudulent business email order to purchase 200 laptops worth approximately R4 million from Microsoft in the USA, to be delivered in Pretoria. “On 28 November, the Hawks received information regarding another consignment of 140 laptops worth approximately R7.9 million which arrived at OR Tambo International Airport. The investigation team monitored the consignment and pounced on the syndicate members whilst they were off-loading the alleged stolen property at residential premises in Pretoria,” said Mogale. (Source: www.citizen.co.za)

Nasdaq borrows $1.9 billion to buy financial crimefighting platform Verafin

Nasdaq Inc. isn’t only about herding unicorns to go public on its popular stock-trading platform. The almost-50year-old company also wants to beef up its capabilities as an international financial crime-fighter, with its planned purchase of Canadian anti-fraud and moneylaundering detection platform Verafin for $2.75 billion. (Source: www.marketwatch.com)

Covid-19 vaccine scams at centre of new crime-fighting effort

Scammers base their strategies on the times, and according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which tracks scams and bad practices, Covid-19 is no different. The BBB has seen 96 complaints in Florida related to coronavirus, according to their nationwide Scam Tracker. “These scammers are saying to consumers, ‘We have treatments,’ or, ‘We have a vaccine’. They are making themselves seem like they have the answers to those concerns when in fact they don’t,” said Erika Urdaneta, Vice President of Operations for the BBB in Central Florida. Situations like this are part of the reason the Department of Homeland Security has relaunched a crime-fighting effort called Operation Stolen Promise 2.0. According to a recent press release, agents are now “preparing for surge” in fraudulent Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. (Source: www.clickorlando.com)

Lockdown forced nearly half of small businesses in South Africa to close: study

Financial services company Finfind has published a new report showing how Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) bore the brunt of the country’s coronavirus lockdown. The study, which was published in collaboration with the Department of Small Business Development and a number of business groups, is based on a survey of 1 489 businesses across every major sector. The data shows that in the first five months of lockdown, 76.2% of businesses surveyed experienced a significant decrease in revenue. 35.2% had cash reserves saved, and of these, 62.6% thought their cash reserves would last between one and three months. However, only 29.2% of businesses were confident they could pay expenses the following month. Existing debt, lack of cash reserves, outdated financials, no access to relief funding, and an inability to operate during the lockdown, forced the closure of 42.7% of small businesses. (Source: www.businesstech.co.za)

Pandemic a driving force in 2021 financial crime

Financial cybercrime in 2021 is set to evolve, researchers say, with extortion practices becoming more widespread, ransomware gangs consolidating, and advanced exploits being used more effectively to target victims. That’s according to key predictions from Kaspersky. Researchers said the drastic Covid-19-related changes to the way people live and work has changed the way financial attackers operate. The implications of these shifts for 2021 are significant. Over the past year, companies became less secure due to hastily deployed remote work solutions, researchers said. That has translated into a lack of employee training, default laptop configurations left unchanged and vulnerable remote access connections. Together these trends have opened up a myriad of new attack vectors, including targeted ransomware campaigns. According to Kasperky, ransomware – above all – will continue to be a main scourge in the year ahead. (Source: www.threatpost.com)

How repeat offenders are pushing SA’s crime rate up

Police recently confirmed that one of the men arrested for the murder of farm manager Brendin Horner, had been arrested 16 times. The reality of South Africa’s crime statistics is that a small number of persistent offenders are responsible for a substantial proportion of all crime. CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit spoke to Betzi Pierce from the South African National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders who says reoffending is a huge problem in South Africa. (Source: www.capetalk.co.za)