Crime organizations seek to contract out illegal activities that require specialized technical expertise
Giuseppe Valiante
Province
Organized crime is increasingly using social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter to unlock access to potential victims. Photograph by: Rachel Niebergal File Graphic, Postmedia News, Postmedia News
Criminal organizations are calling on a type of hacker-for-hire online black market, where they can buy the tools and services they need to break into brokerage accounts, says a new report by Canada’s crime watchdog.
It’s one example of a new frontier of online-based fraud that exists for organized crime in this country, says the 2010 25th annual Report on Organized Crime by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.
The report, released Friday, focuses on securities fraud, and states the size and complexity of schemes help conceal criminal activity, generate ample profits and facilitate tax evasion.
It said social-networking websites are allowing criminals to efficiently and anonymously issue fake news releases and promotional material to potential victims.
Aside from the use of Facebook and Twitter, criminal organizations are taking advantage of the hacker-for-hire black market, it said.
The report offered few details. However, it said because of the availability of these services, fraudsters don’t need to acquire the necessary technical expertise to hijack computer accounts on their own.
“Criminal groups are constantly adapting to exploit new opportunities for illicit profit and take advantage of communication and transportation technologies that increase the scope and range of their unlawful activities,” said RCMP Commissioner William Elliott at a news conference in Edmonton on Friday. “Too many Canadians are subjected to the damaging effects of criminal activity.”
The report is released each year to provide the public with what the government believes is an overview of criminal markets in Canada.
The report said there is not a single dominant organized crime group across Canada but a number of criminal organizations that operate out of major regions such as the Lower Mainland, the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Montreal Area. The crime in these areas, police say, influences crime in other regions in the country.
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