Accra, Sept. 11, GNA – A-six-Chapter hand book on automobile crime (auto crime), titled “Auto Crime-Preventive Guidelines,” which seeks to address crime prevention in the automobile industry in Ghana was launched in Accra on Friday.
The book, authored by a Detective Corporal Frank Okyere Darko of the Auto Theft Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Ghana Police Service, focuses on things one ought to know before buying a car.
It also discusses how to secure a vehicle, theft prevention, personal security measures, and cybersecurity of vehicles and how to avoid it.
Commissioner of Police (COP) Isaac Ken Yeboah, Director General of CID, launching the 81-page book, advised the public to be security conscious and possess the basic information about their property, especially vehicles, to avoid falling victim to car fraud, among other serious crimes.
He said car owners should know the make, car numbers and, if possible, chassis numbers and other petty information of their vehicles so as to help for identification purposes when they fell prey to car crimes.
COP Yeboah encouraged vehicle owners to be observant and particularly know their vehicle parts as well simple activities like changing oil and filling their water tanks, in order not to be short-changed by mechanics.
He commended the author for putting his investigative skills to bear and urged all, especially investigators, car owners, prospective buyers and automobile dealers to read the book.
“The book is easy to read and educative,” he added.
Detective Corporal Darko, on his part, said he was motivated to write the book because vehicles were no longer luxuries but a necessity and more people were becoming victims to car fraud, hence the need to educate the citizenry.
He said people should know where to go when they needed to buy a car and this include where to verify sources before buying vehicles, processes to go through at the DVLA, transfer of ownership and above all, the cyber security aspect of vehicles.
He said in this technology era the upcoming cars were digitally functioned and owners must know, detect and correct anomaly when they occurred.
Mr Darko, also a Certified Intellectual Property Crime Investigator, said readers would be able to practically deal with the cyber security issues of their automobiles and could contact the police if they wanted to buy cars with a petition through the Director of CID.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ms Doris Oppong Asante, giving the excerpts of the book, cautioned car owners against “trial and error” mechanics who could install malicious applications in their vehicles to attract criminals.
Chief Inspector George Tetteh, who gave the foreword of the book, commended the writer for enlightening readers on the role of ICT on auto theft and how to avoid falling victim to cybercrime with regards to purchasing and owning a vehicle.
The first copy was bought for GHC1,000.00 but copy is sold for GHC25.00.00.
GNA