Law enforcement in Zambia this week raided a Chinese company that was hiring unsuspecting young Zambian citizens supposedly for positions at a call center that was actually a front for cybercrime and money laundering.
The so-called Golden Top Support service company ordered employees to “engage in deceptive conversations with unsuspecting mobile users on various platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, chat rooms and others, using scripted dialogues,” said Nason Banda, director general of Drug Enforcement Commission of Zambia. (DIC) he told the BBC, who reported the case. DEC, law enforcement, immigration and counterterrorism units assisted in the investigation and arrests at the shell company.
A recent increase in bank fraud in Zambia has raised alarm and led local authorities to investigate and ultimately raid the company. Banda said “illicit operations have extended beyond Zambia’s borders”, including victims in Singapore, Peru, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other parts of Africa.
Authorities found around 13,000 SIM cards, 11 SIM boxes to hide the caller’s location and firearms, and 22 Chinese citizens were arrested. Banda said the Zambian workers were charged and released to cooperate with the investigation.