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30 December 2018 Scams, cyberbullying and online hatred are constantly growing. The postal police say it by telling a year of activity on the web. Over 5000 virtual spaces monitored in 2018 for gender, anti-Semitic, xenophobic and far-right discriminatory conduct. But the fight against hate crime is just one of many fronts.Online scams
Scams are on the rise: in 2018 the Postal Police reported 3,355 people, arrested 39 of them, seized 22,687 virtual spaces, received and processed around 160,000 reports of scams or attempted scams. Significant activity was carried out on the so-called insurance frauds, committed through the marketing of insurance policies through the creation of portals, in some cases with reproductions of web pages of known companies, on which false temporary insurance policies are promoted.
Cyberbullying
With regard to minors, considered among the subjects most at risk in the context of online crimes, great attention has been paid to contrasting emerging phenomena that arise from the psycho-emotional fragility of the younger ones, among which there are episodes of instigation to self-harm and to suicide, also structured in challenge or game mode. In particular, since 2017, the Center has launched a network monitoring activity aimed at combating the phenomenon known as "Blue Whale", an activity aimed at identifying victims and "curators" and which has recorded around 700 reports, of which 270 merged in communications of crime news to the Prosecutors.
And the increase in the number of teenagers present on the web has led to an exponential growth in the number of minors who are victims of crimes against the person: from 104 cases registered in 2016 to 177 in 2017 and 202 cases treated in 2018, the victims have all aged between 14 and 17.
Investigations and arrests against child pornography
Again with regard to minors, during the year that is about to close thanks to the activity of the Postal Police 43 people were arrested and 532 people reported in the context of investigations against online child pornography. The investigations relating to the phenomenon of soliciting children online led to the arrest of 3 people and the reporting of 136 suspects.
#Postal police data 2018: #cncpo investigations into online child pornography led to 43 arrests and 532 complaints
202 cases of minors aged between 14 and 17 victims of crimes against the person treated #cyberbullismo #truffeonline 3355 complaints and 39 arrests, 22,687 virtual spaces seized pic.twitter.com/LubqziyPDu
Financial fraud
During 2018, financial frauds were reported on the web for 38 million of which 9 million recovered and returned. In the field of financial cybercrime there is a greater and more advanced use of hacking techniques, through the use of malware inoculated through phishing techniques - explains the police - in order to meddle in commercial relations between companies. The aim is to divert financial resources to the cybercriminals' current accounts.
The online commissariat
The portal has become the specialized point of reference - explains the police note - for those looking for general information, advice, suggestions, or want to download forms and submit complaints. About 11,000 (10,922) complaints submitted by users, 19,088 requests for information processed and 18,722 reports received from citizens. An easy tool that allows citizens, from home, work or from any place they wish, to enter the portal and take advantage of the same reporting, information and collaboration services that the Postal and Communications Police daily and continuously offer users of the web.