As you know, the world of crypto currencies is still very young. As a result, regulatory bodies and legislators are constantly adapting to fight against ecosystem drifts. This is why Interpol is launching a special unit to fight online crimes.
A new body to effectively combat cybercrime
The secretary general of the international criminal police body Jürgen Stock said that agents are often poorly trained to combat digital asset crime. Indeed, legislators only have limited means and regularly find themselves overwhelmed by extremely experienced hackers.
Thus, Interpol would aim to create a new division specializing in the fight against cybercrime. According to the Indian News Agency Business Standard, a special team has already been deployed to Singapore. She would be in collaboration with the government of the island city since October 17.
This announcement of a new special crypto division was unveiled during the 90ᵉ General Assembly in Delhi. This event brings together senior international police officials. Thus, the member countries agree on the methods to be adopted, the budget or even the programs of activities.
In 2020, Interpol partnered with cybersecurity firm Trend Micro. This collaboration aimed to reduce cryptojacking affecting routers throughout Southeast Asia. The agency has also worked with South Korean data intelligence startup, S2W Labpour analyze darknet activityincluding cryptocurrency transactions in March 2020.
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A sector very difficult to control
For Jürgen Stock, the fact that there is no no clear and precise legal framework for cryptos, this poses major challenges. For him : “Agencies are not properly trained and properly equipped to deal with cryptocurrency crimes.” The secretary general of the international criminal police body added that cryptocurrencies and cybercrime would be central topics at the event.
Interpol’s innovation arm based in Singapore works to develop a technology responding to the problems posed by cybercrime, as reported by the Indian journalist Sachin Singh.
#Crypto currencies are emerging as major threat across the globe: Jurgen Stock, Interpol chief
The Interpol global complex for innovation in Singapore is working on a mechanism to deal with challenges emerging from #Cryptocurency
— Sachin Singh (@sachinsingh1010) October 18, 2022
For Praveen Sinha, Special Director of the Bureau of Investigations in India: “’It is increasingly difficult to monitor cybercrime.” He also underlined the key role of Interpol in establishing and developing better police cooperation worldwide.
“The only answer is international cooperation, coordination, trust and real-time information sharing“said Praveen Sinha.
The international agency has been trying since 2015 to obtain more means to fight against online crimes. Interpol wants to obtain better expertise in order to know the transactions of digital assets. Indeed, according to Chainalysis crypto transactions have made it possible to launder $8.6 billion in 2021. This represents a 30% increase over the previous year.
However, it is important to note that crypto money laundering represents only 0.15% of global illicit trade. Indeed, crypto currencies and more particularly Bitcoin are often singled out when it comes to fraud.
Cybercrime on the rise
As the means to combat online fraud and scams continue to increase, so does online crime. Indeed, while the month of October 2022 is not over yet, it is already a record de hacks in the history of cryptocurrencies.
Last month, Interpole launched a red notice for the creator of Terra Luna Do Kwon. South Korean prosecutors have asked the 195 countries that work with the agency to find the fugitive. The co-founder of Terraform Labs is wanted by law enforcement around the world following the collapse of the Terra ecosystem last May.
However, even though scams and fraud are on the rise, Interpol still manages to catch criminals. This is the case of Faruk Fatih Özer, creator of Thodex, who had fled Turkey with no less than 2 billion dollars stolen from users of his platform… The scammer was arrested by Interpol in Albania and faces a prison sentence of 40 000 years in Turkey.
Another important trick is that of the “Sheikh of Bitcoins“. Francisley Valdevino da Silva was at the head of a scam in Brazil of the magnitude of 780 million dollars. Thanks to an investigation started by Interpol, the Brazilian police were able to apprehend the fugitive. In addition, about twenty gang members in more than 10 different countries have been arrested.
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