Lisbon, Feb. 2, 2021 (Lusa) – The economic and social crisis resulting from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world represents an "opportunity" for organised crime, the director of the Europol police cooperation agency warned on Tuesday before European and national parliamentarians.

In her clarifications at the 8th meeting of Europol's Joint Parliamentary Control Task Force, part of the parliamentary dimension of the Portuguese chairmanship of the Council of the European Union (EU), Catherine De Bolle warned that "new types of fraudulent schemes, including on the economic recovery packages for the crisis, can be expected to proliferate".

"The greatest threat lies ahead of us, the volatile economic situation, with increasing poverty and social inequality, will be fertile ground for organized crime, including trafficking in human beings and migrants, and also for financial crime", paving the way for abuses related to the economic recovery plans in progress, she explained.

"Criminals are very flexible, they adapt easily. (...) The crisis strengthens criminal organisations", she insisted.

"Covid-19 will leave a legacy of lasting effects on the criminal landscape of the EU. Europol and other law enforcement organisations must be ready for the challenge".

She said that Europol had produced 33 reports on the impact of Covid-19 since the pandemic began in March last year, with the next report scheduled for later this month.

Among the crimes highlighted are the counterfeiting of goods and cybercrime, including 'phishing' attacks and other types of piracy, and the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, which "remains a concern" and which demonstrates how vital cooperation with private entities, such as Internet multinationals, is contained in the European Commission's proposal for the revision and strengthening of Europol's mandate, presented in December.

"The distribution of the vaccine is an opportunity for counterfeiters," she said, adding that Europol has already identified "some crimes of fake vaccines on the 'dark web' [unreachable network servers, generally used for obscure and illegal purposes]" and also "fake tests for travel purposes.

Catherine De Bolle said she was aware of the need for Europol to strengthen support to member states in relation to cross-border investigations and financial crime, specifically in relation to potential abuses of EU economic recovery programmes.

"The pandemic has led us to rethink the way we work, but we have adapted quickly to the crisis", she stressed.

The 8th meeting of the Europol Joint Parliamentary Control Task Force, co-organised by the Parliament and the Parliament, started on Monday and ended today.

SBR/AYLS // AYLS

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