The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), also known as Interpol, is investigating how it might police crime in the metaverse. However, a senior Interpol executive believes there are problems in defining a metaverse crime.
Interpol’s intention to monitor criminal activities in the metaverse was revealed by Secretary General Jurgen Stock, according to the BBC. Stock highlighted the ability of “sophisticated and professional” criminals to adapt to new technological tools for crime.
The move to police the metaverse comes nearly four months after the international organization launched its own metaverse in October 2022, at Interpol’s 90th General Assembly in New Delhi, India.
During this release, the ad stated:
“As the number of Metaverse users grows and the technology develops further, the list of potential crimes will only expand to potentially include crimes against children, data theft, money laundering, financial fraud, counterfeiting, ransomware, phishing and sexual harassment and assault. ”
According to Stock, criminals have started targeting users on platforms similar to the metaverse, adding that “we need to respond sufficiently to that.” However, the organization faces trouble defining a metaverse crime. Madan Oberoi, Interpol’s executive director of technology and innovation, stated:
“There are crimes in which I don’t know if they can still be called crimes or not. If you look at the definitions of these crimes in physical space and try to apply them in the metaverse, there’s a catch.”
Furthermore, he revealed that Interpol is also challenged to raise awareness of potential metaverse crimes.
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In parallel with the launch of the metaverse in October 2022, the organization created a unit dedicated to combating crypto crime.
#Crypto Coins Are Becoming A Big Threat Around The World: Interpol Chief Jurgen Stock
Interpol’s global complex for innovation in Singapore is working on a mechanism to deal with challenges arising from #Cryptocurrency
—Sachin Singh (@sachinsingh1010) October 18, 2022
The moves followed Interpol’s “red notice” to world law enforcement in September over the arrest of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon.
