The institution “Alliance Against Cybermobbing” has just presented a study in Germany[1]. The study consists of online surveys conducted between May and July 2024 with 637 teachers, 1061 parents and 4213 pupils throughout Germany.

The results show that bullying of girls and young women in cyberspace continues to increase. Some 18.5% of students between 7 and 20 years of age report having suffered from it, which in absolute numbers represents more than two million schoolchildren. Previous studies had detected 16.7% in 2022 and 12.7% in 2017. Educational institutions and teachers are totally overwhelmed by the problem.

The consequences of this bullying are noticeable both psychologically and physically. Sufferers report headaches or stomach aches, anxiety, a sinking feeling or depression. Fifty-seven percent of the victims say they are hurt, 43% react with anger and almost a third say they are anxious. Thirteen percent report having resorted to alcohol, pills or drugs and 26% admit to having suicidal thoughts.

School-based prevention has proven to be effective. Those centres that implement this type of measures have fewer cases. Although there is some activity in this direction (55% say that there is some preventive activity in their centre, 7% more than in the last survey), victim support remains an unresolved issue (respondents who say that it exists have decreased by 9% – from 37% to 28% – since the last study).

Parents acknowledge their responsibility, but say they are overwhelmed by the problem. The institution promoting the study has published a mechanism to advise parents based on the knowledge of eight experts in the field.

There are four lines of prevention proposed by the Alliance Against Cybermobbing:

• It is necessary to maintain and intensify the prevention work carried out up to now and to start it in primary schools. Children should be aware of the environment they will encounter on the Internet. It is essential to improve the training of teachers in this area, receiving support from experts outside the centre.
• Parents should get on the Internet and networks with their children as soon as their children can begin to access them. It is important that they receive support from the municipalities and schools (with specific programs and activities).
• Counselling and support centres should be provided for victims, as well as anonymous “hot lines” to which they can turn for support.
• Politics should also contribute by passing a law to combat cyberbullying, as has existed in Austria since 2016. It should also be provided with the necessary resources for effective law enforcement (judges, magistrates and police).

[1] Vid. PM-Cybermobbing-Studie-2024-fin.pdf (buendnis-gegen-cybermobbing.de)

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Europol and 29 European countries, as well as several private sector food and beverage producers, joined forces in the 2024 edition of Operation OPSON. This annual operation, now in its thirteenth run, is aimed at removing counterfeit food and beverages of substandard quality from the market. Around 22,000 tonnes of food and 850,000 litres of beverages (mostly alcoholic) were seized by law enforcement, customs and food regulatory agencies.

Results of OPSON XIII:

• 11 criminal networks dismantled,
• 104 arrest warrants issued,
• 184 search warrants issued,
• 278 persons reported to the judicial authorities,
• 5821 checks and inspections performed.
• In total, goods valued at more than 91 million euros were withdrawn from the market.

Food fraud, counterfeiting of food and beverages and abuse of geographical indications are an important and serious area of crime that needs to be addressed at the international level. The objective of Operation OPSON is to protect public health and safety and ultimately dismantle the organised criminal networks involved. Europol and all partners involved are fighting on all fronts against this criminal area, which includes activities in both physical and online marketplaces, such as e-commerce platforms, and the entire food supply chain, from raw materials to the final product.

Investigators across Europe noted a continuing trend in fraudsters selling expired food. By infiltrating waste disposal companies, they put into circulation masses of expired food that should be destroyed. After deleting and reprinting expiration dates or printing and attaching new labels, they reintroduce expired products back into the supply chain. In terms of counterfeit and wrongly designated foods, olive oil and wines with protected designation of origin (PDO) are the most affected product types.

The Spanish Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the Italian Carabinieri and Europol, arrested four people and seized around 120,000 cans of tuna and 45,000 litres of oil. The arrested owners of a canning company in La Rioja (Logroño) made canned products with tuna of a lower quality than that indicated on the label, as well as with sunflower oil or pomace oil labelled as olive oil, thus managing to market the products at prices much lower than those of their competitors.

In Spain, the Guardia Civil took action against counterfeiters of products such as oil, ham and cheese. In Valencia, a pickle producer was investigated for selling products unfit for consumption due to the addition of illegal colourants and preservatives. 80 tonnes of product were seized, much of it ready for sale and consumption.

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A new report by Europol and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) warns that fraudsters and organised crime networks mainly use legal entities to avoid detection by authorities and thus take advantage of consumer preferences for low prices, even if they are counterfeit products.

The report ‘Descubriendo el ecosistema de la delincuencia contra la propiedad intelectual: un enfoque a los facilitadores’ (Uncovering the Intellectual Property Crime Ecosystem: A Focus on Enablers) illustrates the sophisticated methods used by fraudsters and organised crime groups to commit intellectual property (IP) crime and exploit consumer behaviour. It highlights the widespread impact of intellectual property crime on society as a whole, driven by counterfeit products and pirated content.

According to the report, approximately 86 million counterfeit goods were seized in the EU in 2022 alone, with an estimated total value exceeding €2,000 million. The study underlines that while consumers are attracted to low-priced consumer goods, their choices fully support a range of other serious crimes, such as cybercrime, money laundering and even environmental crime.

The health and safety of consumers is endangered by the emergence of counterfeit pharmaceuticals from clandestine and dangerous laboratories that expose workers and the public to harmful substances. Moreover, the digital domain has become a battleground, with cybercriminals creating sophisticated fake websites that not only sell counterfeit goods, but also collect consumers’ sensitive payment information, further intertwining IP crime with cybercrime.

Overall, the report highlights the growing sophistication of intellectual property criminals. Organised criminal networks extend across borders and engage in the import, export and production of counterfeit goods, most of which are produced in China, including Hong Kong, and Turkey.

According to the document, the perpetrators of these operations are not amateurs, they use legal structures at all stages of intellectual property crime and select jurisdictions where it is difficult for EU law enforcement to shut them down or where sanctions are low. In many cases, counterfeit products are produced outside the EU and then end up with fake labels, logos and packaging in different parts of Europe.

The conference held last October, entitled ‘Follow the Money to Fight IP Crime’, brought together experts from law enforcement, the private sector, EU agencies, international organisations and the academic world. Its purpose was to share experiences and best practices, and to explore opportunities and challenges in the fight against intellectual property crime.

The conference began with a full day programme covering key topics such as enablers and the consequences of intellectual property crime, financial investigations to combat intellectual property crime, asset recovery related to intellectual property crime, and the impact of intellectual property crime on public health and the environment. The day also included discussions on the United States’ perspective on financial and intellectual property crime. On the second day, the conference programme focused on the role of social media influencers in promoting counterfeit purchases, and strategies to improve the ability of financial investigations to combat intellectual property crime.

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In early October this year, an investigation led by the French Gendarmerie, involving the Italian Carabinieri Corps and the Swiss Federal Police, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, led to the dismantling of a criminal network of counterfeit French Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wines in Italy. The criminal network counterfeited French red wine, charging up to €15,000 per bottle. The fake wine was produced in Italy, then delivered via an Italian airport and exported for sale at market value around the world by wine merchants unaware of the alleged scam.

The operation resulted in:

• 6 arrests (one high-value target) and
• 14 house searches in Turin and Milan
• Seizures included: large quantities of counterfeit wine bottles of different Grand Cru domains, wine bottle stickers and different wax products, wine refilling ingredients, technical machines to recover bottles, luxury goods and electronic equipment valued at €1.4 million, more than €100,000 in cash, and various documents of interest.

The modus operandi of the criminal network, combined with the characteristics of the counterfeits, led investigators to establish a link with a previous investigation supported by Europol targeting the counterfeiting of PDO wine. Forensic operations carried out on these high-value objects revealed the techniques used by the criminal network to counterfeit excellent quality French wine.

Connections were also found between the two investigations while investigating the manufacturers of stoppers and capsules and the label printers. This investigation, which had been closed in 2015, involved a Russian national who was also linked to the current investigation. Further enquiries uncovered business transactions conducted between Italy and Switzerland. Other bottles were later discovered with similar signs of counterfeiting.

In 2014, a latent trace was discovered on the back of a label, revealing a connection to an individual already known to the authorities from a previous similar case. The investigation into an international network counterfeiting luxury wines led to the arrest of a Russian individual associated with two winegrowers, both of Italian nationality. However, since 2019, new counterfeits have appeared in Europe, specifically in the Swiss and Italian markets. Investigations showed that the old counterfeit bottles were still being sold alongside new ones with copies of the new security features. Investigation leads and international information exchange via Europol enabled the French Gendarmerie unit handling the case to identify this new distribution route for counterfeit bottles through the identity of the Grand Cru domains.

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Dutch, French and German law enforcement agencies joined forces to arrest criminals who caused millions of euros in damage by blowing up ATMs.

It was in the early hours of 16 October 2024 when police forces from the three countries arrested three members of a violent criminal network that carried out explosive attacks on ATMs. Europol brought together investigators from the three countries to arrest the criminals, who are believedto have looted millions of euros and caused similar amounts of property damage between 2022 and 2024.

As part of a day of police action carried out in several locations in the Netherlands, France and Germany, law enforcement also searched car rental companies whose vehicles had been used to flee crime scenes. This criminal network in particular was one of the first to use locations in France as hideouts and to rely on getaway cars rented from a French rental company. These raids led to the gathering of extensive evidence, thus facilitating broader, more logistical investigations into members.

For several years now, criminals have increasingly been using solid explosives, mainly derived from fireworks, to blow up ATMs. This has significantly increased the danger and collateral damage of their attacks. The criminals, who are often located in the Netherlands, take extreme risks and act unscrupulously, both at the scene of the crime and when escaping in high-powered vehicles. As the attacks are often carried out in residential areas, ATM explosions and subsequent high-speed escapes can cause serious damage to buildings and residents.

To combat this phenomenon, law enforcement agencies in the countries concerned are continuously expanding their cross-border collaboration. For this particular operation, Europol brought together Dutch, French and German investigators to work on intelligence and plan the coordinated day of action. A Europol specialist with a mobile office was sent to the coordination centre to cross-check the operational results against Europol’s databases.

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