EOCO to collaborate with security agencies to combat cybercrime

The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) is seeking to collaborate with other security agencies to clamp down on cybercrime.

According to COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, Executive Director, EOCO, clamping down on cybercrime will help protect the public from falling victims to the nefarious activities of criminals online and eventually, sanitize the cyberspace.

She noted, EOCO has in recent times observed a rise in cybercrime, and has been working with the telcos to identify and crackdown on those behind the practice.

“If we don’t stop it now, it will get to a point where people would have lost money, and you will understand what it means to us: people are crying ; some of them are committing suicide because they had invested so much and they have lost the monies and now it becomes an issue not only for police and sometimes it is for the government too because when they enter and things don’t go well, they come back to the government and they say the government should pay the money,” COP Addo-Danquah said.

She stressed, “We shouldn’t allow it to happen at all. That is why we should work hard; any information that we get, we shouldn’t take it for granted. We should work on them and together; EOCO here, BNI here, National Security here; police here – everybody on the ground.”

COP Maame Tiwaah-Danquah was speaking during a working visit to the Ashanti region where she met with the heads of NIB, Police and the Attorney-General’s Department.

The meeting seeks to foster collaboration between the agencies and also promote law and order.

“We checked and realized that these organizations are not registered by BoG (Bank of Ghana). They are not registered by Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and even not by the Registrar General. It’s just some people who have devised those means to take money from people and the majority of people are vulnerable.

“We are still working around the clock; with the telcos, because they are using mobile devices and telephone numbers so we are working with them to find out who are those behind the online scams and at the end of the day, the law will take its course,” COP Addo-Danquah observed.

Recently, EOCO warned the public not to engage CHY Mall, a Chinese firm, Royal Gardens Network and Hubtel Mobile Money Lending, because they are running a Ponzi scheme since they lack the necessary licenses to run their line of businesses.

EOCO further warned that there is an emergence of online scammers taking undue advantage of the unsuspecting public in the guise of doing business with them.