After a number of citizens in Egypt were subjected to “electronic fraud” through an application called “Hoog Ball”, many questions arose about how to avoid this type of fraud through virtual applications, while experts explain to the “Al-Hurra” website ways to immunize a person against this type. of crimes.
And on Saturday, the Egyptian Public Prosecutor, Counselor Hamada El-Sawy, ordered the formation of a team to investigate the incident of the communication submitted against the founders of the electronic application called “Hugh Bull”, according to a statement by “Ato the Egyptian Public Prosecution“.
Since the beginning of March, the Public Prosecution Office in Egypt has monitored multiple publications on social media about accusing some of the founders of the aforementioned application of defrauding them and enabling them to seize their money.
Concurrently, the Public Prosecution office received a report from the Information Technology Crimes Control Department at the Ministry of Interior, which included informing a number of citizens against those responsible for the electronic application for defrauding them and defrauding sums of money from them using “electronic payment” methods, as they deluded them into investing their financial savings with them in return for obtaining daily financial profits. From application management, according to the statement.
Hours earlier, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior revealed the circumstances of the electronic fraud incident, after seizing the money of a number of citizens, totaling about 19 million pounds, equivalent to about 618 thousand dollars.
The security services were able to identify and monitor the elements in charge of managing the application, and it turned out that they are 29 people, “13 of whom hold the nationality of a foreign country,” according to a statement.Egyptian interior“.
The defendants were seized with (95 mobile phones – 3,367 mobile phone lines – 9 group messaging modems – 7 computers – 39 computer monitors and their accessories – 3 cars – sums of money in local and foreign currencies “amounting to about 600 thousand pounds” – 41 credit cards for banks Outside).
Confronting them, they admitted that they formed a gang that targeted those who wanted to achieve quick financial gains via the Internet and seized their money through a number of electronic wallets (their number reached 88).
Subsequently, those electronic wallets were distributed to 9,965 wallets, in order to avoid security monitoring and pave the way for transferring them abroad in their favor through programs via the Internet to buy cryptocurrencies “Bitcoin”, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior.
The defendants admitted that they closed the application after they were able to seize that money, and that they were in the process of launching another electronic application under the name (Riot) for the same purpose.
the reasons
Major General Mahmoud Al-Rashidi, the former Egyptian Assistant Minister of the Interior for Information Security, believes that these crimes are part of “unsafe or legitimate uses by some of modern technology.”
And he confirms to the “Al-Hurra” website that these applications succeeded in “electronically defrauding” the victims by exploiting the ignorance of some of the “risks of the Internet”, and he says, “No fraudster succeeds in committing these crimes except by exploiting the ignorance and digital illiteracy of the Internet user and the greed of some In achieving quick and effortless material gains.
Al-Rashidi enumerates the main reasons for the spread of this type of crime, which are:
- Lack of awareness of the dangers and threats of the Internet and communication sites, and that they are the latest methods of committing new crimes
- The inadequacy of the security agencies entrusted with limiting these crimes, which are steadily increasing
- Shortcomings in the penalties prescribed by legislative laws to achieve the required deterrence for perpetrators of this type of crime.
In Egypt, Law No. 175 issued in 2018 on combating information technology crimes regulates the crimes of hacking and attacking Internet networks that belong to the state or public legal persons.
With regard to “fraud” crimes, the law known in the media as “internet crimes” is punishable by imprisonment for a period of no less than three months and a fine of no less than thirty thousand pounds and no more than fifty thousand pounds, or one of these two penalties, according to “text of the law“.
According to Al-Rashidi, the “economic situation” is one of the most important reasons for the spread of these crimes, due to the desire of many users to make quick profits.
Egypt suffers from “difficult economic conditions”, and in the past year the value of the Egyptian currency has declined, and the price of the dollar is currently about 30 pounds, compared to 15.6 in March 2022, which contributed to the rise in the general annual inflation rate to 26.5 percent in a country that imports most of its needs. From abroad, according to “Agence France Presse”.
The acute shortage of dollars reduced imports and the accumulation of goods in ports, which had a negative impact on the local industry. Annual inflation in Egyptian cities rose to 25.8 percent in January, the highest level in five years, according to official data, and the prices of many commodities increased. staple food faster.
According to official data, the poverty rate reached about 30 percent of the population before the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is estimated that 60 percent of Egypt’s population of 104 million people is below or near the poverty line, according to Reuters.
For his part, information technology expert, Tamer Mohamed, points out that these applications take advantage of economic conditions and the absence of electronic awareness among a wide segment of ordinary people to practice “fraud”.
Speaking to “Al-Hurra” website, he confirms that fraud through “electronic applications” is not a new phenomenon, but its activity has expanded during the last period after a number of citizens sought to obtain “easy profits” without trouble.
According to his speech, electronic fraud is an extension of the “relaxing phenomenon” that Egypt witnessed during the last period.
And the “resting person” is the person who collects money from citizens and deceives them with high interest, and after collecting it, he runs away with it in a way that cannot be recovered.
The title of al-Mustareeh was given to a fraudster named “Ahmed Mustafa”, who was able to collect from the people of his village in Upper Egypt more than 53 million pounds to invest in trading mobile phone recharge cards, and since that time this title has been given to “fraudsters”, according to a study by “Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Egypt“.
Al-Mustareeh was arrested in 2015, and he received a final sentence of 15 years in prison, and 266 million pounds were returned to the civil plaintiffs, as the Egyptian judiciary considers these cases as a kind of “financial fraud and fraud crimes,” according to the center.
These electronic applications take advantage of “some people’s search for irrational gains” and delude them into obtaining “high profits” and give them “commissions” in the event of recruiting new subscribers, in order to eventually defraud all of them, according to Muhammad.
How do we avoid electronic fraud?
Muhammad says, “Financial trading via the Internet has rules and takes place through the competent and reliable official bodies such as banks and the stock exchange.”
He points out that “trading digital currencies and electronic mining” is criminal in Egypt and punishable by law, and therefore this must be avoided in order to “not be exposed to legal accountability and avoid fraud.”
It is likely that similar electronic fraud incidents may have occurred to some, but they did not submit “reports” in this regard, given that the law criminalizes electronic trading.
For his part, Al-Rashidi asserts that the victims, despite their “ignorance and greed”, have become guilty of agreeing to participate in trading “digital currencies”, which is criminal according to Egyptian laws.
Egypt criminalizes “issuing cryptocurrencies, trading in them, promoting them, establishing or operating platforms for their circulation, or carrying out activities related to them,” according to Article (206) of the Central Bank and Banking System Law promulgated by Law No. 194 of 2020.
Whoever violates this shall be punished with imprisonment or a fine of not less than one million pounds and not exceeding ten million pounds, or either of these two penalties, according to “Egyptian media“.
Ways of confrontation?
Al-Rashidi talks about several ways to confront these crimes, the most important of which are:
- Eradicating digital illiteracy and spreading technological awareness so that citizens learn how to rationally use the Internet and its various applications
- The launch of an “official government electronic platform” that receives citizens’ reports and verifies the “reliability and security of applications” before citizens use them.
- Amending laws and regulations that criminalize the unsafe use of technology.
For his part, Tamer Muhammad sends a message to the citizens, saying, “Do not look for illogical quick gains, because you will be exposed to fraud and deception in the end, whether hypothetically or realistically.”
People must “digitally educate themselves” and learn about the dark sides of technology to avoid fraud and exposure to data and personal information.
