Persons Urged to Report Cyber and Fraud-Related Crimes

Persons are being encouraged to report cyber and fraud-related crimes, which have seen an increase for the Christmas season.

Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Corporate Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Stephanie Lindsay, told a JIS ‘`Think Tank’ on December 14 that the Police have seen an uptick in these crimes as criminals seek to capitalise on the commercial activities during Christmas.

“Persons have placed fictitious accounts pretending to be suppliers of certain types of goods, and these sites, they really look authentic. They offer good prices, so persons might feel that they’re getting a good deal; however, the minute you pay for the item, the site disappears,” she said.

SSP Lindsay explained that the Police noticed the trend around the time of the recent Black Friday, when many persons were shopping.

She is encouraging persons who may have fallen victims to the crime to make the reports, not just to their banks, but also to the Police.

“We also encourage them to report the matter to the police as well. Sometimes people don’t bother to report it and what we find is that they are scamming all levels of persons and sometimes persons are even embarrassed to feel that they were victims or they fell prey to scamming,” SSP Lindsay said.

She explained that outside of finding the perpetrators of the crime, the police reports assist in data analysis.

“It also allows us to collect the data and to assess the magnitude of the problem, so we can develop strategies around how we prevent persons from being scammed, and how we develop our communication in collaboration with our various stakeholders, so it’s very important for persons to be very vigilant,” SSP Lindsay said.

She informed that the police have made inroads in catching these criminals.

“A number of persons have been arrested and brought before the court. A number of cases have been resolved in the court, where they have to pay back. The Court mandates that they pay back the money to the victims, so those are some of the reasons why you should really report it, because we have been solving the crime,” SSP Lindsay said.