EU to set up anti-cybercrime body

VALENTINA POP

EU ministers on Monday proposed to set up a cybercrime centre as part of a longer term strategy to cope with internet scams, fraud and child pornography.

[euobserver.com] Foreign ministers gathered in Luxembourg asked the European Commission to draw up a feasibility study looking at the creation of a body that would assess trends in cybercrime all across the EU and facilitate cross-border information sharing among various national investigators dealing with such cases.

Despite increased cross-border investigations, criminals are still in a safe haven due to the lack of harmonisation among the 27 different legal systems in the EU, making it easy for internet fraudsters to set up bogus companies in one member state and scam victims in other countries.

The centre would try to tackle these issues by evaluating the preventive and investigative measures carried out in member states and by training police, judges and prosecutors who specialise in this field. (more on euobserver.com)