"Computer crime in the country already imposes some concern, because the numbers, especially in the period that goes from January to the precise moment are already worrying", said today the responsible of the organ, Edgar Cuico.
"Until the moment, we have a record of more than 2000 cases, which are those that come to our attention, because we know that there are cases that happen, but are not reported to the authorities", he stressed.
Speaking at the end of the presentation ceremony of the "Digital Citizen" project, an initiative by EMIS – an Angolan interbank services company –, he pointed out the provinces of Cabinda, Luanda and Benguela with the highest rates of computer crimes.
Computer scams in telecommunications lead the types of crimes, "followed by computer forgery, illegitimate access, today there are also many defamations, insults and slander practiced through information and communication technologies", he noted.
For the chief superintendent of criminal investigation, the current criminal framework for computer crimes is lenient and it should be aggravated to discourage the practice.
"I think they are mild (penalties for computer crime) and I think we should raise them a little more, also to discourage and avoid that feeling of impunity on the part of those who commit this type of crime", he told journalists.
"Because, if the penalties are mild, soft or reduced, it also generates that feeling of impunity on the part of those who practice this type of crime, maybe they should be a little heavier, tougher", he replied, when asked by Lusa.
EMIS also announced that multicaixa debit card fraud in Angola doubled in 2022, compared to the previous year, with a total of 4,587 registered occurrences against the 2,294 registered in 2021.
