In this edition we carry a report in which a syndicate, working in cohorts with two suspects with extensive knowledge of information technology, fleeced unsuspecting companies of millions of maloti.
For this reason, we applaud efforts by experts from South Africa who this week hosted a workshop at a local hotel to raise awareness by sharing their knowledge with high-ranking police officers, judges, magistrates, prosecutors, principal secretaries and bank executives.
One of the experts, a head of specialist forensic investigations at a multi-national bank group, told the workshop there has been an upsurge in online-banking crimes in South Africa over the last three years, adding however, the problem has since spilled across that country’s borders, which would make neighbouring countries like Lesotho sitting ducks if authorities are not pro-active in nipping it in the bud.
Indeed knowledge is power, but, without the tools through which such knowledge can be put into practice, such information would simply be there for window dressing and not for any utilitarian value.
This should serve as a wake-up call, not just for the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), but also for authorities in government.
For many years we have read reports that cops have often failed to deliver because they do not have the necessary resources with which to effectively fight crime.
Here we are talking about basics ranging from uniforms, motor vehicles and even stationery. This should never be allowed to happen if the nation is going to hold police to account for failing to maintain the rule of law.
The nagging question is: If our police are still struggling to get the most basic tools for them to execute their duties, to what extend are they prepared to fight the fresh scourge of e-crime which not only demands sophisticated and in-depth knowledge of information technology, but also requires the availability of state-of-the-art computers because criminals always try to be a step ahead of the authorities?
We urge cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs), particularly now when the National Assembly is busy with budget allocations, to seriously think about the dire need to bring police officers up-to-date with current trends in e-crime.
Instead of bickering over trifles, as is sometimes the case in Parliament, the MPs should make a concerted effort to ensure our law enforcement agents are properly equipped.
For a long time Lesotho and other countries in the region have been regarded as South Africa’s backyard.
This second fiddle status has also been seen in the attitude by the criminal underworld where criminals who regard Lesotho as more laid-back and therefore easy prey to the latest criminal acts have often come to ply their trade here.
At the end of the day, if Lesotho gets its law enforcement right in the equation, this would smoothly translate into putting the Kingdom on the global map as one of the desirable investment destinations where property is secure.
Lesotho, being a peaceful country, already has the ingredients. So policing should be tightened further to complete the country’s edge over other countries, including South Africa whose Gauteng region competes with the world’s crime capitals.
Beyond this, we believe the public should also be educated about the machinations of these marauding e-criminals, especially by way of public information campaigns to show Basotho what sort of gadgets and techniques are used.
We also believe banks have a corporate social responsibility to teach the banking public how these criminals operate.
We say so because in the story about the crime syndicate involved in defrauding several local companies, it’s clear there are criminal elements working inside banks.
While we have no doubt such criminals among bankers will always be quickly weeded out, our concern, which should worry banks, is that even after firing such culprits, the banks’ reputations built after years if not decades of hard work would have been seriously compromised.
With the advent of more elaborate personal identification systems through the Home Affairs ministry’s IDs initiative, we hope banks, will be able to work closely to verify the profiles of people they intend to hire to look after the trusting public’s hard-earned savings.
