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One of the best ways to avoid financial scams is to always ask why certain information is requested, says Inspector Timothy Zammit, head of the Cyber Crime Unit. A number of factors – including island status, small geographical size and population, a stronQuestioning crime
One of the best ways to avoid financial scams is to always ask why certain information is requested, says Inspector Timothy Zammit, head of the Cyber Crime Unit. A number of factors – including island status, small geographical size and population, a strong family structure and religion – contribute to Malta enjoying relative safety from traditional crime. Yet cyber crime does not recognise social or geographical structure. As long as Malta is connected – and it is, by far, one of the most connected in Europe, with the latest statistics showing that 80.1 per cent of the total population are regular internet users, and 87 per cent of these are on social media – then cyber crime will follow the same trends as in other, larger countries. With the increased reliance on technology, cyber crime is on the rise. “Back in 2003, we used to handle 50 cases every year,” says Inspector Timothy Zammit, who heads the Cyber Crime Unit. “Last year, we handled 870 cases, which translates into an average of two to three new cases every day.” There are two main categories of cyber crime. The first is the traditional form of crime – such as fraud – which adopted technology as a means to the same end. Read more