Cybercriminals can't hide in Guernsey

Monday 19 February 2018

Law Enforcement staff have received training from European Cybercrime Investigators as Guernsey Police and Border Agency "sharpen awareness" among staff.

The training sessions have focused on cryptocurrencies with guidance on how to navigate the "dark web" to track cybercriminals down.

Two experts in Cybercrime from the Netherlands travelled to Guernsey to carry out the training sessions.

Cybercrime Investigator Maarten Van Barneveld of the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service and Public Prosecutor Maarten van der Zwan gave "a series of masterclasses to officers from Guernsey’s High Tech Crime Unit, Financial Intelligence Unit and Criminal Investigations Department."

They were invited to the island following a recent CARIN (Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network) conference in Sweden, which members of Guernsey’s ICART (International Cooperation and Asset Recovery Team) attended. The sessions last week included a mix of theory and practical exercises including case studies where investigators have tracked down and de-anonymised cyber-criminals.

Mr Van Barneveld told Express: "We've been looking at the way these things work (the dark web), what people are able to buy and how the selling process works, and how a vendor on the dark web is looking for clients, how they advertise, how they are sent and how they are paid so that law enforcement can learn how to investigate these cases."

He added: "It would surprise me if it was not happening here also. Everyone with an internet connection can easily buy illegal stuff from the internet. The way these people work is they use anonymity really well so they can be hidden very easily and they can send all kinds of things just by the mail. So if you don't see it, it doesn't mean it's not there."

Pictured l-r: Mr Van Barneveld and Mr van der Zwan 

Guernsey's Economic Crime InvestigatorJohn Moses said it's important local officers are clued up. Speaking about a recent trip to Sweden he said: 

"One of the big things that was very interesting for me, was about 9 o'clock at night, this lady said to me 'look at this website now' and, indicating Guernsey, there were four people trading bitcoins at 9 o'clock at night in Guernsey. Now, that doesn't mean they are actually here; they just wangled themselves to look like they're here."

He said that might or might not mean illegal activity is happening here: "This is the big thing for us, it's getting up to speed with cryptocurrency. It's getting a working knowledge of it. When something does actually fall on the table, we ourselves as investigators need to be up to speed so that we can turn around and say 'yes, we know what we are, we know what we're doing and this is how it's going to work as far as the investigation's concerned'."

Pictured: John Moses and colleagues at the recent seminar

Detective Superintendent Ruari Hardy, Head of Economic Crime commented: "While not illegal, Cryptocurrencies are unregulated, decentralised and can quickly be transferred across borders."

He said: "Law Enforcement Agencies across the world are seeing criminals use electronic currencies to finance illegal activities and also launder money. This is an opportunity for our officers to learn from experts in the field and to gain knowledge and experience in a variety of areas, including how the currencies work and how to trace transactions."