Cyber victims

WESTERN BUREAU:

Some days, the name is Abelo Forex; on other days, Kabelo Forex Goat Investments. The only constant is the image depicting Jamaican businessman Aubyn Henry, whose physical identity has been stolen by South African scammers.

A month ago, Henry was alerted to his images being used for forex trading in South Africa, only to find out that the tricksters had been capitalising on his popularity on social media for a year, duplicating every post he made.

The 24-year-old’s image was trending as recently as two weeks ago on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with Kabelo Forex now claiming a following of more than 18,000.

“They have a following of some 8,000 on Facebook and roughly 10,000 on Instagram with the handle profits_daily_forex_institude,” Henry told The Sunday Gleaner.

They have used his image to create at least three accounts, including on WhatsApp.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Henry is among a growing group of Jamaicans beset by cybercrime on the various social media platforms, which has increased since the onset of COVID-19.

With no experience in foreign exchange or securities trading, Henry, through his lawyer, Teri-Ann Lawson of Juris Partners, has written Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram’s Adam Mosseri, WhatsApp’s Jan Koum, YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki and South African High Commissioner to Jamaica L.E. Yengini about the theft of his identity.

He has also sought the assistance of Jamaica’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Kamina Johnson-Smith, and made an official report to the police’s Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigations Branch (C-TOC).

Henry told The Sunday Gleaner that he has received no response from any of the entities and is now extremely concerned about the future of his business.

“The use of my image, likeness, and/or posts by these entities is misleading to the public and harmful to my reputation as a Jamaican businessman with worldwide business interests,” he stated, stressing that he was in no way associated with Kabelo Forex, Kabelo Fx Goat and Abelo Forex Goat Investments, et al.

“Most importantly, I did not give permission for any of these entities to use my image, likeness, or posts in the promotion of their businesses.”

‘Using my images to scam people’

Henry operates Aubyn Distributors Limited, an accessory and glasses company, under the brand Henrys-Wood Jamaica; the clothing brand Cooyah; and an eco-friendly packaging company called Aubyn Packaging.

He started his businesses three years ago and now has branches in four parishes, and while he looks to expand outside of Jamaica, he is worried that this cybersecurity issue could pose challenges.

“From what I have seen, these people are using my images to scam people internationally. They are using my lifestyle and my posts and my seminars that I do because I do motivational speeches at schools or companies,” he lamented, obviously frustrated that none of the social media platforms have sought to even close the perpetrators’ accounts.

Fortunately, they have not resorted to using his name, but every post he makes is duplicated by the crooks, he said.

“Not using my name but using my image does not make the crime any less [severe]. The likelihood of people seeing my image is just as significant. If I come across somebody on a plane or in a business setting, saying I scammed them, that is a risk,” he pointed out, noting that he has been receiving threats.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Andrea Martin-Swaby said there has been an increase in reports of cybercrime since the onset of the pandemic. She also noted that there was a significant increase in direct reports by citizens over the past few months.

According to her, when the reports are made to the ODPP, persons are directed to make formal reports to the police to allow law enforcement to investigate.

“However, we recognise that it is difficult to ascertain a suspect in these matters due to the anonymity afforded by the Internet and also the fact that the perpetrator may be located outside of Jamaica and beyond the immediate reach of local law-enforcement officers,” Martin-Swaby told The Sunday Gleaner.

Checks made with head of C-TOC, Superintendent of Police Anthony McLaughlin, revealed that while they are formally aware of Henry’s case, they are yet to make a breakthrough.

Henry’s friend, Drezel Simmonds, who has a following of 255,000 on her social media platforms, has had her name falsely used for over two years. Each time she succeeds in taking down a fake profile, another emerges.

“It is now so bad [that] one day I was walking in Half-Way Tree and a man held on to me, accusing me of conning him. He said he sent me money and credit from overseas, and he was coming back to Jamaica and the person blocked him,” Simmonds told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

“The person’s name was ‘Ashley’, but she used my image. I had to show him my ID and real Instagram page. I swore he was going to kill me. I was so frightened.”

Simmonds said that she has found approximately 15 fake pages on Instagram using her identity.

“They use the pages for forex trading, even selling of sex. The newest one is selling a car using a Digicel telephone number. They are using both my image and my name, trying to sell a Tiida car,” she said.

Simmonds added: “I met in an accident last week, and they went as far as to tell the guy they are selling the car of the accident I met in. Their plan was to get the buyer to meet up with them. Even when the buyer found out it was a scam, they still tried to convince him that it was legit.”

Simmonds said she is fearful of walking the streets of Jamaica; however, she is not fearful about posting on social media.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com