25% rise in cybercrimes last year

The cybercrimes in the Sultanate have risen by 25 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019, Brigadier Jamal bin Habib al Quraishi, Director-General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations, said. He noted that those who fall victims to cybercrime usually do not report the case to police due to the sensitivity of information collected by the offenders.

Cyber criminals can use various social media platforms to carry out their fraudulent schemes. The department of economic crimes had dealt with a lot of crimes committed via social communication programmes such as Whatssapp, Instagram, Snapchat as well as the fake trading platforms. A number of those fake companies that promote unreal investments luring their victims with large returns. Many people had fallen victims to such scammers only to find out that they are fake, Al Quraishi said.

Such fraudulent schemes promote their fake businesses mainly by posting some people purported to be successful investors who have gained a lot of money within a short span of time by trading currency, oil and stocks. They also exploit official newspapers and government websites to lure their victims, he said.

Royal Oman Police (ROP) have arrested a number of cyber criminals, Al Quraishi said, noting that many of the offenders are based outside the Sultanate, besides the victims do not have enough information about the offenders apart from numbers of bank accounts managed abroad. In this regard ROP cooperates with other countries through the International Criminal Police (Interpol) to try and bring the offenders to justice.

The department of liaison at Directorate-General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations has constant coordination with the Interpol and the International and Arab Police. The department receives information about the crimes and criminal methods from the member states seeking assistance in criminal cases. The ROP usually responds quickly to requests sent by member states as long as the requests are compliant with the law. With regard to cybercrimes, when we get informed about novel criminal methods detected by other member states, we usually take necessary measures and issue circulars in coordination with the relevant authorities to protect the public against those crimes, he said.

The director-general of inquiries and criminal investigation said that cyber criminals can target all age groups, however teenagers are the most vulnerable to cyber extortion because normally lack awareness and knowledge. Hence, parents have a responsibility to watch their children and be aware of what they do when on the Internet.

Giving tips to protect ourselves against cybercrimes, the director-general of inquiries and criminal investigation said that Internet users should not disclose their personal and financial information. Internet users should apply safety measures when shopping online. Besides, Internet users should carefully evaluate the investment offers they receive online particularly those promising hefty and quick gains. People should be aware that the cyber criminals put their victims under psychological pressure by repeatedly contacting and urging them to accept their offers reminding them of the big rewards awaiting them.