Scam

Global police agencies issue alerts on Covid-related cyber-crime

Europol and Interpol have joined the list of cross-border law enforcement organisatinos who have set out to tackle Covid-19 scams and misinformation campaigns.

“With a huge number of people teleworking from home, often with outdated security systems, cyber-criminals prey on the opportunity to take advantage of this surreal situation and focus even more on cyber-criminal activities,” Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle wrote in the organisation's latest security advisory.

The announcement comes a week after Europol published a detailed report on how criminals modified their strategies to make the most of the pandemic scare, based on information it received from EU member states.

The report, published on 27 March, listed six factors that prompted changes in Covid-related crime and terrorism: high demand for certain goods, protective gear and pharmaceutical products; citizens increasingly teleworking, relying on digital solutions; increased anxiety and fear that may create vulnerability to exploitation; decreased mobility and flow of people across and into the EU; limitations to public life, making some criminal activities less visible and displacing them to home or online settings; decreased supply of certain illicit goods in the EU.