Cyber slavery: Youth fall prey

• Recruits aged between 20 and 25

• Movements strictly controlled by kingpins

• 88 youth face possible jail time

• Police blames high unemployment rate

Last week's police cryptocurrency bust has provided a window into a murky underworld run by transnational criminal networks – which appear to have infiltrated the country.

During a police raid at a house in Auasblick, the police have since seized 163 computers, 350 mobile phones, six vehicles, 12 firearms, ammunition, drugs, protected resources and N$365 447 in cash.

The 14 accused persons who appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court on Friday face several charges of trafficking in persons, using the services of victims of trafficking, one count of fraud involving an amount of about N$9 million, and charges of money laundering, racketeering and tax evasion. They were remanded in custody.

Those arrested ran a company called Raylon Investment, which operated on and rented the entire third floor of Shapumba Towers in Ausspannplatz. The same owners rented a house in the posh suburb of Auasblick, where the arrests took place.

Web of deception

They allegedly defrauded people of millions of dollars through a scheme known as the Pig Butchering Cryptocurrency Scam.

The scam is reportedly predominately executed by a ring of cryptocurrency scammers who mine social media sites in search of victims using fake profiles.

Namibian Sun understands the syndicate is known mainly for running dubious and uncontrolled operations by allegedly brainwashing desperate and unemployed youth and students to perpetrate online scams on unsuspecting members of the public.

About 88 young people between the ages of 20 and 25 who were recruited into the syndicate were rounded up by the police.

Behind closed doors

The recruits were allegedly closely monitored by their handlers and had to adhere to a strict confidentiality regime, while it is also alleged that the syndicate’s masterminds constantly threatened severe consequences for anyone found discussing what they do with outsiders.

The living conditions of the recruits also raised eyebrows after it was found that some of them were crammed in a room like pilchards in a can. The police say they discovered eight women were forced to share one bedroom.

Namibian Sun understands that the young accomplices/victims earned around N$3 000 and worked shifts from 17:00 to 06:00 in a 'call centre' before being transported back to their living quarters.

“These students were trained by the suspected foreign nationals on how to create fake profiles on Facebook and Instagram and how to develop a relationship with the victim, to the point where the person starts investing, Nampol’s deputy inspector general, Elias Mutota, said.

He said the movements of the recruits were strictly controlled, and they were also provided with company cell phones, which were collected when they went off duty twice a week.

Nampol worried

With Namibia's unemployment rate stands at 34% and the youth unemployment rate at a staggering 48%, police authorities fear that the situation acts as fertile ground for desperate unemployed youths to grab any money-making opportunity that might come their way.

Mutota on Friday warned that “the staggering unemployment and poverty rates in Namibia make youth vulnerable and at risk of scams".

He underlined: “These children are young and vulnerable, and this is a problem and situation that we as the government need to look into and take care of."

Nelius Becker from the Namibia Police Forensic Science Institute said the police "are contemplating whether to charge these young people or regard them as state witnesses."

Fifty of the 88 have reportedly agreed to fully cooperate with the police.