Police Must Prepare For New Crimes In The Metaverse, Says Europol

From fraud to sexual assault, the metaverse could become a hotbed of crime, Europol has warned.

A new report from the Europol Innovation Lab, Policing in the Metaverse, encourages law enforcement agencies to start considering the ways in which existing types of crime could spread to virtual worlds, while entirely new crimes could start to appear.

“I believe it is important for police to anticipate changes to the reality in which they have to provide safety and security,” says Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle.

“The metaverse will bring about new ways of interacting and whole new virtual worlds to live in, potentially transforming our lives, just as the internet has done in the last three decades.”

The report highlights the dangers of identity theft, pointing out that the use of sensors, eye tracking, face tracking and haptics means that, once stolen, criminals would be able to impersonate victims even more convincingly. Stolen identities could also be used to manipulate other users.

Money-laundering will also be a risk, with cryptocurrencies already being used for these purposes and platform-specific currencies likely to emerge.

And meanwhile, says Europol, ransomware-type attacks could be particularly effective.

“Considering the increased importance of digital assets in the metaverse, losing access to them may be particularly debilitating,” warns the report. “If this loss is in XR, where the virtual is blended with the real world, then this loss may have even greater consequences.”

More interestingly, perhaps, the report also examines the dangers of real-life harassment and abuse spilling over into the metaverse, where the effects could be even more traumatic than on today’s internet.

Indeed, this is already happening, with one woman recently reporting that, within minutes of joining Meta’s Venues, she was ‘virtually gang raped’.

Experiences such as this will be far more traumatic as the metaverse experience becomes more realistic ⁠— indeed, at some point, warns Europol, virtual events could become just as impactful as those in the physical realm.

“It will be important to have a clear idea of what is to be considered criminal behavior in the metaverse and to have matching laws to provide the means to prosecute these transgressions,” reads the report.

This will be particularly important when it comes to child protection, with the metaverse providing new ways of grooming and even virtually assaulting children. Again, though, existing laws may be inadequate, currently requiring physical acts to have taken place.

Policing all this won’t be easy ⁠— today’s internet, after all, is hard enough. Some countries are already investing in online policing, such as Estonia, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Norway, for example, operates ‘Nettpatrulje’, or internet patrols, on a number of different social media, gaming and streaming platforms.

However, limited resources won’t allow for ‘bobbies on the street’ in all the platforms and spaces expected to arise if the metaverse takes off as planned. Law enforcement, will need to work out how to be as approachable as possible and work to gain users’ trust.

It’s vital, Europol says, to start addressing these issues right away, pointing out that retrofitting a system to new requirements is a lot harder than building in safeguards from the start.

“Therefore, it is essential for civil society and law enforcement to share demands we place on these platforms early on in the adoption of the metaverse,” reads the report.

“Being in active conversation with the main actors developing the metaverse platforms is therefore essential, as it allows both sides to get a better understanding to help make the platform a safe place and adapt legislation and law enforcement to the challenge.”