Chinese cybercriminal nabbed in Tanzania

Hong Kong: A Chinese national was nabbed for committing cyber fraud in Tanzania, which left the citizens concerned about the cyber threat that Chinese Cyber criminals pose to the rest of the world. 

As The HK Post reported, the suspect was one of the eleven persons that were held by authorities in December on charges of committing cybercrime. The report stated that the arrested Chinese national was allegedly caught sending unofficial devices to connect people by phone to conduct communications abroad. The act goes against the laws of the Tanzanian telecommunications authority.  

The authorities have confiscated a huge lot of electronics from suspected cyber criminals, which included 23 cellphones, more than 400 telephone lines of various telecom service providers, 6 PC’s, five boxes of SIM Cards, three routers along with a power bank.

The reports from The HK Post state that the acts involved eight other locals in setting up social media accounts, which propagated false information about Tanzanian President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan and other senior officials of the Tanzanian government.

Additionally, fake and misleading information was being promoted by these criminals on online local television channels.  

The reports on cybercrime came in Tanzania after a hacker group called APT41 blamed that the Chinese government and Chengdu-based group had embezzled approximately USD 20 million that the US sent as Covid relief funds in December last year.

The reports stated that the federal investigations of pandemic fraud might also point back to foreign-state affiliated hackers, reported NBC news, citing the Secret Service of the country.

“It wouldn’t be so mindful to think this group didn’t target all 50 states,” Roy Dotson, national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator for the Secret Service, stated US-based NBC.

The US Secret service currently has denied any scope of other investigations, adding that more than 1000 investigations involving transnational and domestic criminal actors defrauding public benefits programs and surely, APT41 is a group to look out for; said the NBC reports.