Criminal Activity Research Articles

Cybercriminal Networks and Operational Dynamics of Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scammers: Insights from the “Black Axe” Confraternity

ABSTRACT I explored the relationship between the “Black Axe” Confraternity and cybercrime, with a particular emphasis on the structural dynamics of the Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. I investigated whether a conventional hierarchical system governs the membership and remuneration for BEC roles as perpetrators by interviewing an accused “leader” of the “Black Axe” affiliated cybercriminal incarcerated in a prominent Western nation. I supplemented the analysis of interview data with insights from tapped phone records monitored by a law enforcement entity. I merged Actor-network theory and Social Network theory as analytical frameworks and thematically analyzed data to produce six overarching themes: (1) The fluidity of Structure and Adaptive Roles in BEC, (2) Challenges in Visualizing Criminal Networks, (3) Globalization and Transnational Dimensions, (4) Social and Cultural Influences, (5) Internal Cybersecurity Threats and Money Laundering, and (6) Remuneration and Influences of Cryptocurrency, casting a brighter light on the topic. Unlike traditional organized crime, BEC scammers have adopted a nonhierarchical model that is flexible and fluid. I found no evidence of a rigid hierarchy dictating positions and remuneration for BEC roles. Instead, I observed that cybercriminals involved in BEC activities functioned horizontally, promoting fluidity, maneuverability, collaboration, and specialization across various facets of their illicit pursuits. I also highlighted the cross-border links BEC offenders have with other criminal actors facilitated by Black Axe organizational machinery. My research adds value to the existing body of knowledge, utilizing a unique dataset comprising direct testimonies of a high-profile BEC offender affiliated with the ‘hard–to–access,’ Black Axe gang.

Women’s Homelessness and the Justice System: A Study of Desistance and Social (Re)integration Among Canadian Women Who Used or Did Not Use Criminal Activities to Survive

Women experiencing homelessness (WEH) are a marginalized group who often lack support services, leading them to adopt alternative survival strategies that leave them at risk of being victimized and becoming involved with the justice-system. To better understand this problem, we analyzed the adaptive strategies Canadian WEH use to survive. Comparing the life histories of WEH who turned to criminal activities ( n = 4) with WEH who demonstrated prosocial resilience ( n = 4) makes it possible to identify protective and risk factors for criminal behavior and to propose adaptive strategies that can be used to support these women to adopt a prosocial lifestyle. The results provide a framework for understanding the needs of WEH, filling a gap that results from the focus on men needs in most scientific literature and by many resources, and suggesting that meeting those needs may reduce the likelihood that WEH will become involved with the justice-system.

The prosecutor's office, pretrial detention and the principle of objectivity: legal challenges, criteria and measures

The general objective of this study is to critically review how the excessive demand, by the prosecutor's office as head of public criminal action, in Ecuador, with respect to the application of the precautionary measure of preventive detention, on the occasion of hearings for the formulation of charges and/or classification of flagrancy, ignores and violates the principle of objectivity, pointing out the excessive use of this measure as a research problem. For this purpose, a qualitative approach methodology is used, under exegetical, analytical and inductive methods, using as a data collection technique the interview with three Ecuadorian prosecutors. As a result, it was found that, in effect, the request for this precautionary measure ignores and violates the principle of objectivity, given that the prosecutors take into account elements such as the prevention of new crimes and the protection of victims to base it, moving away from the criteria stipulated by national regulations, which violates this and other procedural principles and, consequently, violates the accused's right to due process. Keywords:

Beyond Xenophobia: Unravelling Violent Crimes Committed by Foreign Offenders in South Africa

South Africa’s crime rate has propelled it into a realm comparable to war-torn nations. Amid the extensive discourse surrounding the interplay between foreign nationals and criminal activity, scholarly attention directed towards this complex relationship remains limited. While academia has extensively examined migration and immigration dynamics, South African research concerning foreign nationals has been notably overshadowed by the presence of xenophobia. Through a qualitative inquiry, in-depth and face-to-face interviews were held with 40 African and Asian offenders. The paper makes an empirical contribution to academic discourse by revealing the violent nature of crimes committed by foreign offenders in South Africa.

The influence of face mask color on perceptions of African American and white men.

Despite their widespread use during the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks hinder abilities to interpret facial expressions. Yet, they can also reduce the appearance of characteristics that are used to categorize individuals into racial groups, such as Afrocentric features. The color of a face mask might also promote associations with certain types of behavior and professional occupations (e.g., blue surgical mask connoting physician stereotypes; black masks potentially being associated with criminality). This study assessed whether the presence and color of a face mask impacted perceptions of a target male of varying race. White participants (N = 250) were presented with an African American or White male adult face from the Chicago Face Database (of equal age and attractiveness) wearing a blue or black surgical mask, or no mask (Photoshopped onto the face) and rated the man on emotions (happy, sad, angry) as well as how trustworthy, threatening, and attractive the target appeared. Targets wearing a blue surgical mask were judged as more trustworthy and attractive than those wearing no mask (perhaps due to association with medical professions), but these judgements were not qualified by race, despite the African American target's selection based on Afrocentric features. The color black on a face mask did not exacerbate negative perceptions of targets, perhaps suggesting a decline effect in previously demonstrated associations between this color and criminal actions. Unlike previous research performed at the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic on cloth masks shown to potentially exacerbate racial biases, surgical masks (pleated and made of polymeric materials), appear to lessen potential stereotyping of Black relative to White men.

PROFILING OVERVIEW IN FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS

The profiling investigation has great applicability in the field of forensics, providing relevant information regarding the psycho-behavioral interpretation of the criminal, in the context of the dynamics of the criminal act. In order to interpret criminal behavior and outline the psychological profile, the exploratory skills of the lawman stand out on the "game board", in a direct confrontation with the criminal. Although, from a legal point of view, in the criminal legislation in Romania, profiling is not found among the means of evidence, this investigative tool is mainly used in crimes of great violence, which present atypical elements

CCTV Network based Crowd Management, Crime Prevention System using AI/ML

In today's world the rise in security concerns and criminal activity has prompted the widespread adoption of closed-circuit television (CCTV) as a vital component in security measures. This monitoring system is now utilized in various sectors to aid in the prevention and detection of potential threats. However due to the exponential cost of employing personnel video surveillance systems are largely employed in a passive manner. The majority of information gathered by these systems is only put to use as evidence after an incident of crime or disaster has transpired. In light of this we are implementing a more proactive approach. Our video surveillance system will actively respond using real-time monitoring and an alert system to prevent and mitigate the impact of crime and accidents before they occur

The Public Prosecutor’s Office’s experience using Global Forest Watch to monitor and deter deforestation in the Cerrado

Summary The Cerrado biome is a global biodiversity hotspot, and more than half of its area has been devastated in recent decades. Nevertheless, environmental enforcement agencies have a low capacity for monitoring and curbing illegal deforestation and fires. In this context, the local unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Itiquira, Mato Grosso, has been experimenting since mid-2018 with the Global Forest Watch platform to detect illegal deforestation at its onset and notify landowners by electronic means (WhatsApp, email, etc.). With this remote inspection there has been a significant increase in the number of infraction notices, criminal actions, agreements for civil reparation of damage and public civil suits. By seeking to identify illegal deforestation in progress (in flagrant situations), the Public Prosecutor’s Office has prevented such events from turning into major deforestation. Preliminary data indicate that the practice of monitoring and notifications by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and environmental control agencies has increased law enforcement on deforestation and fires in that municipality and halted infractions at their inception. The challenge now is to determine the extent to which this method can be replicated in broader territories and other biomes such as Amazonia and Pantanal.

Deep Learning-Integrated Crime Detection System Using Convolutional Neural Networks

The work delivered here provides a new deep learning-based approach for crime detection, using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) as a tool. Given the abundance of surveillance data which is becoming more available, the provision of automated systems to the law enforcement agencies ought to help in the identification of crimes seems to be the urgent need of the hour. We aim by this study to build a CNN model that could identify scenes in video simplifying them as criminal or non-criminal. The model is trained on the large dataset of the video clips which are labeled and it can promise the accuracy and efficiency attracted by this model. We test the proposed system on various baseline datasets and then its performance compared with state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results thereby show the effectiveness of our method in the detection of criminal activities, which highlights its potentiality for real world implementation in preventive measures and crime enforcement.

Links between terrorism financing and organised crime in Nigeria

Purpose This study aims to assess terrorism activities to identify measures required to mitigate the rise of terrorism activities and their metamorphosis into organised criminal activity through the prevention, disruption and dismantling of sources of financing terrorism. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology was adopted for this study using descriptive synthesis from recent publications and reports of reputable organisations, i.e. relevant grey literature, key informant interview and a focus group discussion. This triangulation approach was used to cross-validate the findings. Findings The findings revealed that terrorism financing is most likely linked to organised crime for generating revenues and is further used to finance the activities of terrorists. Practical implications Terrorists operate from places with little or no presence of governance and, better still, ungovernable spaces for carrying out legitimate businesses, raising internally generated revenues from protection fees, ransoms and taxes. This space further allows domestic collaboration with local criminal gangs to exploit natural mineral resources. If the market for these resources is across borders, international or transnational criminal groups collaborate with terrorists to move the goods and assist with financial services for the generated proceeds. Originality/value This study assessed the emerging links between terrorism financing and organised crime in Nigeria.

Detection of Korean Phishing Messages Using Biased Discriminant Analysis under Extreme Class Imbalance Problem

In South Korea, the rapid proliferation of smartphones has led to an uptick in messenger phishing attacks associated with electronic communication financial scams. In response to this, various phishing detection algorithms have been proposed. However, collecting messenger phishing data poses challenges due to concerns about its potential use in criminal activities. Consequently, a Korean phishing dataset can be composed of imbalanced data, where the number of general messages might outnumber the phishing ones. This class imbalance problem and data scarcity can lead to overfitting issues, making it difficult to achieve high performance. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a phishing messages classification method using Biased Discriminant Analysis without resorting to data augmentation techniques. In this paper, by optimizing the parameters for BDA, we achieved exceptionally high performances in the phishing messages classification experiment, with 95.45% for Recall and 96.85% for the BA metric. Moreover, when compared with other algorithms, the proposed method demonstrated robustness against overfitting due to the class imbalance problem and exhibited minimal performance disparity between training and testing datasets.

Supervision of Non-Profit Organizations (NPO) On Potential Criminal Acts of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The biggest challenge for NPOs is how the purpose of the NPO, to serve the community, can be run by legal corridors and not be used as a medium for money laundering for criminals or terrorism funding. Supervision of NPOs has a very important purpose in the context of preventing terrorism financing and also in the context of preventing money laundering. Therefore, the identification of donor recipients or beneficiaries for NPOs needs to be analyzed by looking at the existing regulatory framework, and whether the regulatory framework can effectively prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. This paper aims to discuss the supervision mechanism of NPOs in mitigating money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as the liability of NPOs if used as a medium for Money Laundering or Terrorist Financing. The research in this paper is Normative Research with Explanatory Descriptive Research Typology. The data analysis technique that the author uses is data analysis with a qualitative approach. Based on the research conducted by the author, it can be concluded that to prevent NPO funding from being misused for money laundering or terrorist financing, by way of supervision of the transaction flow of Mass Organizations as customers by the financial service provider through the identification and verification of donors and recipients or beneficial owner of NPO, and by the risk-based supervision of NPOs conducted by the Ministry that has authority to allow the establishment of NPOs through educating, monitoring and evaluation.

Some historical and legal aspects of bringing to legal responsibility for issuing and executing criminal orders and orders

From the analysis of historical and legal sources, it can be seen that the legal responsibility for issuing and executing criminal orders and orders went through certain stages of formation, which are directly related to the processes of emergence and development depending on the historical type of the state and its legal instruments. It is noted that the first states that at the legislative level established legal responsibility, that is, punishment, including for giving and executing criminal orders and orders, were the states of the Ancient East, in particular, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Babylon and Ancient India, where at the legislative level legal responsibility was introduced not only for ordinary people, but also for representatives of the authorities for criminal actions against the state that encroached on the established state order. In most cases, the punishment for such acts was the death penalty. It is argued that the idea of legal responsibility for issuing and executing criminal orders and orders dates back to biblical times, where it is inextricably linked to the doctrine of the origin and separation of powers. Therefore, in view of the significant influence of Christianity on the formation of the Western legal tradition, in particular the texts of the Bible, which in fact became the civilization foundation on which the legal norms designed to regulate social relations between people and government institutions were based and will continue to be based, including the scope revealed which is assigned to man for his dominion and the limits where such dominion ends. And in the event that not only representatives of the authorities, but also anyone violates the commandments established by the Creator, including not only by issuing, but also by executing orders or orders, then such actions are subject to condemnation, and the person himself is subject to punishment.

Genocide in Ukraine: problems of proof

The article emphasizes that genocide was first criminalized immediately after the Second World War, precisely in 1948 when the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide. In terms of severity, it is undoubtedly the most serious crime for both peacetime and wartime, and it is also the most difficult to prove. First of all, it is argued that in order to establish the very fact of genocide, it is necessary to have the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, any national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as well as for this destruction to be carried out by killing, inflicting grievous injuries, creating intolerable conditions life, prevention of childbirth or forced transfer of children to another group. The main focus of the article is on the fact that crimes against humanity most often occur during war. In order for the underlying crimes—such as murder, torture, extermination, sexual violence, and other acts—to qualify as crimes against humanity, they must be part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians. Unfortunately, trials for genocide and crimes against humanity take forever. An example is the events in Srebrenica, proceedings in several genocide cases are still ongoing. Genocide, as well as crimes against humanity, are most clearly defined in legal terms in the Rome Statute of 1998, which became the foundational document of the International Criminal Court. Both crimes were also included in the criminal codes of many countries, the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Articles 442, 437) was not an exception. However, until now, there is no responsibility for crimes against humanity in national legislation. Therefore, currently the criminal actions of the combatants can only be qualified as war crimes. Many states have integrated the crime of genocide into national legislation, but not all have used the UN definition. Many states have also included crimes against humanity in their criminal codes. It is quite clear that both genocide and crimes against humanity are systematic crimes, to prove which it is not enough to confirm with evidence the commission of individual acts. Both crimes are committed within a system, often wide-ranging, and both contain elements that require proof of relevant intent or awareness on the part of the perpetrators, for example, in the case of genocide, by proving that the perpetrators knew of an express or implied plan.

Crystal clear connections - database matching unknown glass fragments to reference glass from ATM explosions –

This paper introduces the concept of an operational reference glass database, specifically designed for broken glass fragments from ATM attacks, jewelry store robberies, and ramraids on high-end clothing stores. The database, initiated in 2014, is used to compare glass traces from organized crews involved said criminal activities. Utilizing LA-ICPMS, this study establishes a methodology for collecting reference glass samples from the scenes of the aforementioned crimes, thus creating a comprehensive database containing over 3500 reference glass samples from crime scenes. The operational database is employed to match trace elemental profiles of glass fragments from suspected items to known reference samples, offering specificity and accuracy. Analysis of results, while ongoing due to the nature of active cases, find matches of trace materials in over 50 % of case requests since 2019. Challenges such as database scalability and continuous updating are acknowledged, and future directions include technological advancements to enhance precision and the application into other areas of forensic material analysis. The paper emphasizes the efficacy of this specialized approach in chemical profiling, providing a potent tool for linking glass traces to specific criminal contexts and providing intelligence and investigative leads into individuals involved in ATM-related crimes.

A Multi-Weapon Detection Using Deep Learning

The escalating usage of light weapons in criminal and terrorist activities has necessitated the development of advanced weapon detection systems. This study centers on the application of the high-speed deep learning detection model, You Only Look Once version 7 (YOLOv7), to address the need for efficient and swift threat identification. The proposed system, trained on a self-curated dataset rich in images of various dangerous light weapons, is designed to recognize and distinguish multiple weapons simultaneously. The unique value of YOLOv7 in object and specifically weapon detection lies in its outstanding speed and accuracy, as demonstrated by certain weapon categories achieving a mean average precision (mAP) of 97%. The system’s performance can potentially be further enhanced by augmenting the image dataset for each weapon category. This study, therefore, not only validates the critical importance of YOLOv7 in advancing detection methodologies but also presents a practical solution for bolstering public safety.  

Application of Law No. 35 of 2014 on Criminal Acts of Sexual Violence Involving Children

The focus of this research is on criminal acts of sexual violence involving children as perpetrators and victims. The main problem in this study, namely the application of Law 35 of 2014 in the criminal act of sexual violence involving children as perpetrators and victims in PN Sungguminasa. The type of research used is Field Qualitative Research or field research, with a statutory and sociological approach. The source of this research data was obtained by observation, interview, and document review methods. Data processing techniques are carried out by pumping data, then processing qualitatively and described by explaining, deciphering, or providing an overview of the subject matter. Based on the results of the study, it is known that the application of Law No. 35 of 2014 in cases of sexual violence involving children in PN Sugguminasa has been implemented by the provisions in the legislation. Child perpetrators or victims have been given protection by applicable regulations. As for if there is a later discrepancy between the provisions in the law and its application, then it is based on the decision of the court with various considerations.

Criminal Law Reform of The Existence of Article 378 of The Criminal Code in Land Cases

There is the criminalization of handling land disputes in Indonesia, such as in the case of Decision No. 1154/Pid.B/2021/PN. JKT.SE, namely Ir. Burhanuddin, who owns land with justifiable rights in the form of a Certificate of Ownership as a defendant and sentenced to imprisonment for 3 (three years), shows the need for criminal law reform against the existence of article 378 of the Criminal Code. With the normative juridical research method of the statutory approach, the author finds that the Criminal Act of Fraud 378 of the Criminal Code in the perspective of the Indonesian Criminal Law is connected with land regulations, explaining that Fraud, according to article 378 of the Criminal Code anyone who uses fraud or a series of lies to make someone give something, blame him, or cancel a debt but according to the legal principle lexes specialist systematic derogate lex generalis. While juridically, both the Civil Code and the Basic Agrarian Law do not specifically regulate if there is an error fraud in the sale and purchase of land rights, the sanction given by law is to cancel the sale and purchase deed with a claim for compensation because fraud in the deed of sale and purchase of land rights is not a criminal/criminal act that should be threatened with criminal sanctions but becomes Depenalization. The legal considerations in Decision No. 1154/Pid.B/2021/PN. JKT. SEL, reviewed in the renewal of the Indonesian Criminal Law, that the elements of fraud in the Criminal Code, namely objective and subjective elements of a person, can only be considered to have committed a criminal act of fraud as mentioned in Article 378 of the Criminal Code if all aspects are met. In this case, the perpetrator can only be sentenced according to his actions. Article 378 of the Criminal Code stipulates that someone who commits fraud must deceive the victim in a certain way, but in this case, the Civil Code and the Basic Agrarian Law does not explicitly regulate if there is an error.

The donation method: A new behavioral measure for white collar crime?

AbstractTo comprehensively grasp, predict, and address the complexity of white collar crime, robust measurement tools are imperative. The burgeoning interdisciplinary interest in this domain has spurred the development of diverse assessment tools aimed at capturing offending behavior and its proxies. In the present paper, we provide an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of several commonly employed measures, including official statistics, victimization surveys, self‐report surveys, and (quasi)experimental measures. Drawing insights from this review, we then introduce a novel behavioral measure: the donation method. Although the task was originally designed to examine behaviors of interest to behavioral economists, we carefully outline strategies to refine and implement the donation method to assess white collar crime, addressing challenges such as task suitability and controlling for respondent behavior. Additionally, we provide a sample task to illustrate how such a tool could be used within this field. We conclude by underlining the appeal of adopting innovative measurement tools like the donation method to advance our collective understanding of white collar crime. By advocating for its widespread adoption and providing guidance for its use, we endeavor to catalyze progress in the field, facilitating unique insights and, potentially, more efficacious strategies for confronting and surmounting the methodological obstacles inherent in studying this elusive form of criminal activity.

Law Enforcement Against Perpetrators of Criminal Acts In The Insurance Sector In The Perspective of Money Laundering (Study At Manado District Court)

Human life activities are inseparable from the risks that can occur at any time that can cause losses. One effort to overcome this is to use insurance services, but today there are often cases of insurance that harm the community, among others, due to irregularities by insurance agents and the perpetrators are only subject to criminal sanctions in the insurance sector, even though the act is a criminal act of money laundering. This research is a normative juridical research, using a statutory approach and a case approach. The results of the study, that law enforcement against perpetrators of criminal acts in the insurance sector in the perspective of money laundering in cases committed by Mrs. Swita Glorite Supit based on Manado District Court Decision Number: 125/Pid.Sus/2021/PN. Mnd dated June 8, 2021, has not been implemented optimally in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws and regulations, where law enforcement only applies the provisions of general crimes and criminal acts in the insurance sector, despite the fact that Mrs. Swita Glorite Supit committed money laundering proceeds in the insurance sector. Obstacles in law enforcement against perpetrators of criminal acts in the insurance sector in the perspective of money laundering in cases committed by Mrs. Swita Glorite Supit, consists of aspects of legal substance, where the provisions on criminal acts in the field of insurance and money laundering are special crimes so that Investigators and Public Prosecutors only apply crimes in the field of insurance, and there are no regulations of the Financial Services Authority that specifically regulate the procedures, procedures and activities of insurance agents. Aspects of legal structure, where the understanding of law enforcement who handles the case so that it does not apply the provisions of money laundering in accordance with the actions committed by Mrs. Swita Glorite Supit, and aspects of legal culture, where the public does not know and understand well the provisions governing criminal acts in the field of insurance, and about money laundering