ANTIC denies summoning cyber criminals for questioning.

The rebuttal from the state-run corporation, follows the circulation on social media, of what has now emerged to be a forged document, allegedly coming from the state structure.

The document, said to be issued by ANTIC, yet, bearing the blurred stamp of the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, had summoned some 304 suspected cyber criminals for questioning.

The fake communique had warned that the suspects will be severely punished should they fail to show up for questioning at ANTIC within two weeks.

But in an outing on its social media handles yesterday, ANTIC distanced itself from the document, labelling it as fake and misleading.

“The public is hereby informed that ANTIC is not a party to the fake decision supposedly signed by its Director General, summoning some 304 cybercrime suspects to its headquarters for questioning,” the body wrote on its verified Facebook Page.

ANTIC then stated that: “The fake document circulating on social media, hereunder pictured, is the handiwork of malicious individuals seeking to mislead public opinion, damage the Agency's reputation and stall its commendable efforts in the fight against cybercrime”.

“We invite the public to collaborate with ANTIC in the fight against cybercrime in Cameroon by denouncing cases via email: alerts@cirt.antic.cm,” ANTIC added.

It should be recalled that in their communique, authors of the fake document had announced that: “The Director of the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies Cameroon, ANTIC Cameroon; hereby invites the following people involved in cyber-crime to report to room 502 bis, within two weeks after the publication of this press release, to justify their current situations…”.

The fictitious communique then warned that: “…failure to do so, disciplinary measures will be taken against them”.

ANTIC, it should be mentioned, is a public administrative establishment with legal personality and financial autonomy. 

It is placed under the technical supervision of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the financial supervision of the Ministry of Finance.

Following the promulgation of Law N° 2010/012, of December 21, 2010, relating to cyber security, cyber criminality and law N° 2010/013 of 21, December 2010, governing electronic communications in Cameroon, ANTIC was assigned the mission to regulate the activities of electronic certification and regulation of the Internet in Cameroon.

It main missions include the promotion of ICT, regulation of activities of electronic certification, including Security and Security Intelligence.

The structure also facilitates and accelerates development, deployment and the harmonised exploitation of ICTs in Cameroon as well as contribute to the development of Cameroon by the use of ICTs in all safety.