KATHMANDU, Feb 23: The police have revealed that internet and telecommunication service providers have been continuously flagging abnormal use of their network to the police which helps them identify possible locations of the cyber scam operations.
In the past few months, police authorities from the Kathmandu valley have been frequently busting cyber scam centers in the valley, exposing the vulnerability of Nepal as an emerging destination for hosting cyber scam centers. However, there have been concerns that identifying the operation centers for cyber scams in locations outside the Kathmandu valley has been challenging for security agencies.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Sudhir Raj Shahi, the spokesperson for the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police, informed Republica that the Bureau has hosted multiple discussions with officials from internet and telecommunication service providers including Ncell, Nepal Telecom, Vianet and Worldlink to inform the police about the instances and locations of overuse of networks.
Controlling cyber conflict
“The concerned officials at the service provider companies are well aware that they need to report suspiciously high use of their network to the CIB,” SP Shahi said, “When they report such use to us, we inform the concerned district police office and the office takes further action.”
In March, a team of police officials arrested three Chinese nationals from a rented house in Birgunj Metropolitan City-15, for their alleged involvement in an online scam operation. The trio was accused of defrauding netizens from Nepal, India and Pakistan among other countries through social media platforms and mobile phones.
SP Shahi said that such cyber scam operations outside the Kathmandu valley have been taking place on the basis of the tip-off from the service provider companies.
Experts claim that the reliance on third parties for tip-off on cyber scam centers outside the Kathmandu valley is not enough to address the problem of emergence of Nepal as a popular hub for such scam centers. Former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Hemanta Malla told Republica that the police organization must expand its technical capacity rather than rely on third parties for crucial information.
“The government needs to increase its investment in the police organization to increase their technical capacity,” he said, “The over-reliance on service providers decreases the police’s ability to independently pursue such cases.”
He added that the practice whereby service providers help police organizations about suspicious use of their services is not a new trend.
