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Online fraud is a rapidly growing and increasingly complex threat in the EU. According to EU-SOCTA 2025, it is the fastest-expanding form of organised crime, affecting individuals, businesses, and public institutions, often with severe financial and psychological consequences. It also undermines trust in institutions and the digital society.

The European Crime Prevention Award, which annually awards the best crime prevention projects, took place on 27–28 November 2025 in Copenhagen, focusing on preventing online fraud targeting citizens. Discover the winners in the webinar:

1. Finland: Scam call and payment fraud prevention

Based on situational crime prevention, it uses technology to block scam calls from appearing as Finnish numbers, significantly reducing fraud risk.
The ECPA jury praised the initiative for eliminating the need for individuals to change their behaviour, its strong collaborative foundation and its positive outcome evaluation.

2. Portugal: Missão Cibersegura

Aims to educate youth on digital safety, empowers teachers, collects cybercrime data and supports prevention strategies and educational policies.
The ECPA jury noted its success comes from embedding a well-designed cybersecurity game in a national strategy with broad cooperation and exceptional reach.

3. Germany: Fakeshop-Finder

An artificial intelligence–powered web tool that lets consumers verify the legitimacy of online shops in seconds to prevent fraud. 
The ECPA jury commended its strong theoretical foundation and high-quality technical approach as a robust response to the growing problem of e-commerce fraud.

The webinar takes place on Friday 23 January 2026 between 10:30 - 11:30 CET. Participation is free, but registration is mandatory. The webinar will be hosted via Teams. After registration, an automatic confirmation email will be sent to you from @ibzfgovbe.