The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has launched a new platform on You Tube aimed at educating the public on protection against cyber and cyber‑enabled crimes. These crimes range from phishing emails and fake online investments to identity theft, with criminals exploiting digital platforms to target unsuspecting victims. Host of the programme, The Socially Safe Podcast, Jamila Bannister explained the idea behind the launch of the podcast.
“We realized that there was a proliferation of cyber enabled crimes, so I got to learn that there is a difference between cyber crimes and cyber enabled crimes. And as our legislative framework tries to catch up with the quick evolution of the types of crimes we’re seeing taking place, we felt that one of the best ways we could empower people to protect themselves would be through education and allowing them to see what really is taking place.”
Digital forensic analyst with the TTPS Cyber and Social Media Unit, Sergeant Marvin Walker, explained that the podcast is aimed at individuals aged 30 to 50 who are heavily engaged online, conducting both their personal and business affairs digitally.
He also outlined the distinction between cyber crimes and cyber‑enabled crimes.
“Cyber enabled crimes is just the use of digital technology in order to carry out the crimes. It might be a phone call, as we may feature here in terms of the Facebook Marketplace, a lot of people are being deprived of their hard earnings, or legitimate business just to carry out some sort of crime. So they use the digital space to carry out that. The cyber direct crimes are are crimes that go to attack your computer, things like ramsome ware, malicious software, uploads and stuff like that.”