Page 13 - The police annual report 2016 annual report 2016

2,508. In 2016, the police recorded somewhat under EUR 15 million of criminal proceeds recovered during nancial crime cases. At the end of 2016, 1,237 persons were subject to a business prohibition.
Last year, the largest relative increases were seen in aggravated tax fraud, aggravated money laundering, registration offences, and extortionate work discrimination. The annual variation in uncovered crimes can be large, and a single series of crimes alone can include several dozen individual offences.
In 2016, one quarter of offences committed in business activities were various types of fraud. Over 50 per cent more aggravated tax frauds were led last year than in 2015. In addition to fraud, accounting offences and debtor offences formed a signi cant share of the nancial crime cases reported to the police.
In August 2016, the National Police Board launched a project to implement electronic bank enquiries. The purpose of the project is to create an information system where bank enquiries and the responses to them are transmitted electronically between the police and nancial institutions. The project is being implemented jointly by the Tax Administra- tion, the Of ce of the Prosecutor General, Cus- toms, the Finnish Border Guard, the Federation of Finnish Financial Services, the Financial Supervisory Authority, and nancial institu- tions operating in Finland. The electronic bank enquiry of the police will be implemented
in connection with an information system already in use.
TOTAL NUMBER OF NARCOTICS OFFENCES IS GROWING, NARCOTICS TRADE IS MOVING TO ANONYMOUS WEBSITES
The total number of narcotics offences increased by over four per cent from 2015. The number of aggravated narcotics offences increased by around three per cent.
On one hand, the increased numbers show that the authorities have been able to uncover this hidden crime, and on the other, that there are plenty of narcotic substances in the
market. In addition to the large amounts of con scated methamphetamine, for exam- ple, the latter conclusion is supported by
the waste-water analyses carried out by the National Institute for Health and Welfare, according to which a lot of methamphetamine is used in the Uusimaa and Keski-Uusimaa economic areas today.
One of the current trends in narcotics crime is also that the trade is increasingly moving to anonymous Internet sites. This has also re- quired the development of the methods of the pre-trial investigation authorities in combating online crime.
CO-OPERATION OF AUTHORITIES AIMS TO REDUCE WILLINGNESS TO JOIN GANGS
In organised crime, groups of gang members attempt to in uence public opinion through both traditional and social media. For example, the clubs appear in television documentaries and at various charity events.
From the perspective of the police, they aim to direct attention away from the criminal ac- tivities of the gangs and make public opinion more positive.
In co-operation with various authorities, the police aim to reduce willingness to be recruit- ed by these gangs and also provide support to persons who wish to break away from them. The police aim to bring up the impartial and professional viewpoint of an authority in the public discussion.
ONLY MINORITY OF ONLINE CRIMES REPORTED TO POLICE, SPREAD
OF RANSOMWARE IS A GROWING PROBLEM
In 2016, the police led 1,077 offences consid- ered to be online crimes, showing an increase of around 150 cases from 2015. A total of 416 computer break-ins and aggravated computer break-ins were led. Message interceptions showed the highest increase; in 2016, a total of 414 message interceptions were led, while the corresponding number was 298 in the previous year.
The National Bureau of Investigation's Cyber- crime Centre is responsible for the investiga- tion of more serious online crime; its case- load increased by over 50 per cent from the previous year. The Cybercrime Centre has also been kept busy due to the increased amount of executive assistance in online crime investi- gation given abroad.
The spread of ransomware has been a growing problem in the eld of online crime. A foreign actor or actors are often behind ransomware. The types of malware they have developed and distributed encrypt the computer user's les and prevent the use of the computer unless the user pays the sum demanded by the blackmailer. The police have informed the public about ransomware and engaged in international cooperation in order to prevent and investigate the crimes.
In 2016, dozens of CEO frauds and their attempts were reported to the police. This type of fraud involves the impersonation of a member of the management of a company or a public administration organisation to get the organisation to transfer money to foreign accounts.
Online crimes are seldom reported to the police . In the opinion of the police, only a very small part of the above-mentioned CEO frauds and ransomware attacks have been reported. In the case of companies, the reason for the low willingness to report may be caused by the assessment that being a target of online crime and publishing it would damage the company's reputation.
When it comes to private citizens, the reason can be assumed to be shame in some cases, and in others, the misconception that the po- lice are unable to help the victim in a situation where a criminal has, for example, locked the victim's computer with malware.
2016 saw the beginning of a harmonisation project of IT crime investigation methods, proce- dures and reporting at the police. The objective of the project is to create a uniform way of handling digital evidence for police departments that conforms to international standards.
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