Law enforcement officials in Lusaka have apprehended a 22-year-old crook of Kabanana Compound who has been collaborating with international cybercriminals in hijacking WhatsApp accounts.
Ernest Zibonile, a Gen Z delinquent was fished out by the Cybersecurity Task Force and ZICTA.
After illegally taking over WhatsApp accounts, the criminals would extort money from the contacts.
Upon arrest, Zibonile confessed to his involvement in the hacking scheme.
He revealed that he was recruited by a network of 10 Nigerian and 20 Kenyan hackers to facilitate the withdrawal of stolen funds using Zambian mobile numbers.
Zibonile would later on receive a 15 percent commission for each successful transaction under the instruction of withdrawing the loot from pre registered sim card for anonymity and immediate fund transfers to avoid detection and reversal.
According to police sources the suspect was extracted from his criminal hub following escalating complaints of cyber crimes leading to him.
Many would attest that they have once received a phone call from a person with a West African or East African accent claiming to have a local name and extending an invitation to an online meeting.
But this usually ends with one’s personal social media account being hacked and used to solicit money from people close to the victims.
This was th case of 19 year old Joyce Mwanza, a resident of Lusaka, whose WhatsApp account was hacked while criminals gained unauthorised access to her account and used it to solicit money from her friends and family members.
The criminals obtained loans from her contacts totaling approximately K22,000.
Mwanza reported to authorities in October that in same month on the 27, she received a WhatsApp call from a man with an East African accent who invited her to join a Zoom meeting through one of her WhatsApp groups.
During the call, the individual sent her a four-digit code and instructed her to repeat it back. Upon doing so, she was immediately logged out of her WhatsApp account.
A few hours later, Joyce began receiving direct phone calls from her contacts, informing her that her WhatsApp number was soliciting money from them.
The contacts shared several phone numbers provided by the scammers as the intended recipients for the funds.
Following the Mwanza’s report, luck for the scammers started hanging on a thin thread as collaborative effort by the Cybersecurity Task Force and ZICTA led to the arrest of Zibonile who acted like an agent for the scheme.
According to authorities, the hackers’ method of operation involved the use of social engineering tactics to gain access to victims’ accounts and used multiple mobile numbers to imitate legitimate activity.
The Task Force tracked the suspects’ live location, pinpointing their activity to the Kanbana area of Lusaka, where they apprehended the 22-year-old.
Authorities have cautioned the public to verify before sending money and be alert of scamming techniques to avoid being preyed on.
By Moses Makwaya
Kalemba November 13, 2024
