Photo by [Elderado Financial]
The festive season is when families and friends get together to say farewell to the old year and welcome the start of a new one.
During the three months of the festive season, crime escalates drastically, leaving many South Africans wary of their safety.
The digital age has made scammers more creative in their efforts to crook people out of their hard-earned money. Scammers often come in the form of WhatsApp groups, fraudulent bankers, investment brokers, sellers-buyers on online marketplaces and fake employers.
One would assume that the elderly are the most vulnerable to cybercrime. However, it can be anyone looking to make a quick buck. It is young people who are lured into many investment traps which promise a hefty payout, only to be placed in a worse financial hole than they were in before.
Naturally, we have a complacent attitude to cybercrime and crime in general, “it will never happen to me”, but it most definitely will if you are not cautious.
Mike Bolhuis, a specialised security expert, warns South Africans not to be foolhardy with their physical and cyber safety, as criminals are becoming more and more intentional in their efforts.
Bolhuis said, “Crime in South Africa flourishes because crime begets crime, meaning that crime pays. The criminals deal with each other, and they see this kind of crime work. They can commit it and get away with it. So [then it] spreads like wildfire.”
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Criminal Masterminds
South Africa has one of the highest poverty rates in the world. As a result, it created an opportunistic criminal element almost everywhere in the real world and the digital world. These opportunists are motivated mainly by their desperation.
However, according to Bolhuis, those involved in more severe and violent criminal activity are more calculated and informed. They are the ones who are meticulous in their planning and are involved in hijackings, cash-in-transit heists, burglaries and kidnappings.
“If we talk of serious economic and violent crimes, the criminal will target those they have information on because of their worth. They sometimes get this information on social media, and they get this by doing their own surveillance or by hacking, tracking and tracing.”
My Brother, The Criminal
Unfortunately, scammers and criminals are not exclusive to a particular individual of a specific socioeconomic group. There is a large percentage of South Africans whom individuals have financially swindled within their social circles. These offenders can be your family members, close friends and even business partners.
More often than not, victims choose not to report the perpetrators because of their familiarity. Bolhuis advised when such instances occur, people need to set aside their relationship and address it immediately to ensure they have enough time to open up a court case if need be.
Bolhuis said one of the reasons why people refrain from taking certain matters further is not out of misguided loyalty to their peers or family members but of the lack of trust they have in the judicial system of the country.
“The people who have been done in by their family members, business partners or friends do not trust the authorities. They do not trust the legal system, they do not trust the lawyers, and they are not prepared to go the long arm of the law route because of what they have seen and heard. [Maybe] the authorities take a long time, maybe they’re not willing and able [to help], they just don’t have the infrastructure or lawyers take a lot of money. Eventually, nothing happens, then it’s just a paper chase.”
