AI: The New Crime Toolkit

Europol highlights the growing use of AI in organised crime, making operations more efficient and less detectable. Criminals exploit AI to generate realistic scams and child abuse material, raising concerns about an evolving landscape where autonomous AI could dominate. The agency stresses the urgency for legislative updates.

On Tuesday, Europol issued a stark warning: organised crime is harnessing AI to execute scams and expand global operations, complicating detection efforts. The EU agency's report outlines how AI enables criminals to create multilingual messages and realistic impersonations, escalating global cyberfraud and blackmail.

Beyond scams, generative AI is being misused to produce child sexual abuse materials. Europol's executive director, Catherine De Bolle, noted that organised crime's very structure is transforming, with networks turning into global tech-driven enterprises exploiting digital platforms and unstable geopolitical environments.

Europol emphasizes that the transition of criminal processes online includes recruitment and illicit transaction systems. AI's attributes—accessibility, adaptability, and sophistication—make it potent for criminal exploitation, prompting a potential shift to AI-dominated crime networks. Previous operations have already seen arrests related to AI-generated child abuse content, highlighting the need for updated national legislations.

(With inputs from agencies.)