Policing financial cybercrime
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)described previously is developing its recommendations for international regulations aimed at combating financial cybercrime or online money laundering.
Cybercriminals laundering money via the Internet have a wide variety of tools at their disposal. If governments do not take action in policing efforts, they will just perfect their skills. In general, this is the essence of the warning issued in a new report by the FATF.
The FATF study highlights the risks of criminal exploitation of new payment methods. What are they? Among other methods, cybercriminals use cards that let users store funds via memory chips, so-called e-purses or e-wallets, and Internet payment services operating outside traditional banks or credit card companies. The biggest online payment brokers are eBay’s (EBAY) PayPal and Neteller (NTLRF). it goes without saying that online payment services are in many ways useful and convenient to customers. But e-purses and Internet payments are of particular concern to the The Financial Action Task Force as far as they often let users anonymously open accounts online. All that is usually needed is a credit card, bank account number, money wire service, or a long-distance calling card.
The FATF considers that Internet payments should become more transparent and easily traceable as e-wallets can facilitate anonymous transactions used for laundering money or financing terrorism. As to Internet payment services, their presence on the Internet has increased in the past several years. It is known that since 2001 the 12-billion-a-year Internet gambling industry has been relying on online payments.
One of the issues the FATF will explore in upcoming months is differences in regulatory policies on Internet payments. Once it develops recommendations, countries can choose whether to adopt them or not. However, those that do not adopt them can be ousted from the organization for failing to adopt stringent anti-money-laundering policies. Till now, e-purses and other new Internet payment services have not been the subject of money laundering investigations by the FATF.