Spanish
Vienna.- 'Online' fraud already accounts for the majority of scams and artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating its expansion, while many states are not prepared to stop a crime with which organized crime earns billions of dollars, warns the UN on the eve of a summit in Vienna on this phenomenon.
"At this moment, fraud, and particularly online fraud, is the crime that is growing the fastest in many countries, especially in those with medium and high incomes," explains to EFE John Brandolino, acting director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Faced with the expansion of this crime, the Austrian capital is hosting the 'Global Summit against Fraud' this Monday and Tuesday, a meeting organized by UNODC and Interpol that brings together governments, technology companies and civil society organizations to address this threat. The acting director of UNODC admits that there is no reliable figure on global losses caused by fraud, although he speaks of "thousands and thousands of millions" of dollars annually. Furthermore, it underlines that this type of crime is underreported due to the shame or discomfort of the victims, so its real magnitude is possibly much greater than that reflected in the official figures. Brandolino points out that almost any crime today has a phase that goes through the digital world and, in the case of fraud, that aspect is already predominant and grows faster than traditional scams. The internet allows organized crime to capture victims cheaply, quickly, and cross borders easily, while classic frauds in the physical world require proximity, local infrastructure, and are easier to track.AI, at the service of crime
AI has also become a "very disruptive" factor, according to Brandolino, because it allows criminals to be more effective. That technology helps them expand the number of potential victims, act in more languages and extend their geographical reach, as well as process data very quickly, adapt messages and refine the way they target each potential target. Although Brandolino recognizes the danger of 'deepfakes' and cloned voices in new frauds, he considers even more worrying the ability of AI to industrialize scams through the automated sending of thousands and thousands of messages in different languages.Criminals, in short, "operate by numbers" and the greater the volume of emails and messages sent, the greater the probability that someone will respond and end up in a fraud.
That industrial model is also combined with increasing specialization: online fraud is not only more frequent, but also more organized and, in some cases, is related to other crimes such as trafficking and money laundering. The Vienna summit starts precisely from the idea that fraud is no longer a sum of isolated deceptions, but a transnational and organized criminal activity that generates enormous profits.The States, Unprepared
Brandolino insists that many states, especially those that are developing, have serious problems fighting this phenomenon because they lack the technology and the means."Many of the tools that governments have to cooperate are from the 20th century, and here we are, in the 21st century, facing criminal organizations with a very high level of sophistication," the American summarizes the situation.
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That lag is manifested in the difficulties in sharing information quickly between countries and the insufficient technical capacity of numerous states to investigate crimes. These shortcomings become even more evident in transnational investigations, where digital fraud crosses borders hand in hand with private platforms and very complex financial systems. "It's a crime that is becoming increasingly specialized, growing in volume, and we are seeing more and more that countries are not really up to date to be able to deal with it," emphasizes Brandolino. It underlines that one of the objectives is to improve cooperation, not only between States but also with technology companies, banks, and in general, with the private sector. The acting head of UNODC highlights that large technology companies and financial institutions often have more real-time information than the States themselves about fake profiles, fraudulent websites, suspicious transfers, or emerging fraud patterns. And they also have specific tools to act quickly to remove accounts, as well as monitor suspicious movements or introduce delays in suspicious operations. Brandolino believes that if cooperation between states is improved and the private sector is more involved, the activity of criminal networks would be affected and their profits and the number of victims will be reduced.
