News

EUCPN webinar: Meet the ECPA 2025 winners on online fraud

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.

registration ››

New deaths in custody in Australia data released

New deaths in custody in Australia data released

Link to: Deaths in custody in Australia 2024–25

Data from the most recent National Deaths in Custody Program Statistical Report Deaths in custody in Australia 2024–25 show that:

There were 90 deaths in prison custody and one death in youth detention in 2024–25. Twenty-six of the prison custody deaths were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (29%), the highest number of Indigenous deaths in prison custody recorded since 1979–80. Sixty-four non-Indigenous people (71%) died in prison custody in 2024–25.
Forty-two percent (n=11) of Indigenous prisoners and 31 percent (n=20) of non-Indigenous prisoners who died in prison custody were unsentenced.
The most frequently recorded known manner of death for Indigenous prisoners in 2024–25 was self-inflicted (53%, n=10), followed by natural causes (42%, n=8). This is the highest number of self-inflicted Indigenous deaths in prison custody since 1979–80.
Natural causes was the most common manner of death among non-Indigenous prisoners (69%, n=36), followed by self-inflicted deaths
(29%, n=15).
There were 22 deaths in police custody and custody-related operations in 2024–25. Six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and 16 non-Indigenous people died in police custody during this 12-month period.
Of the three Indigenous deaths in police custody for which coronial information about the manner of death was available, two were due to accident or misadventure and one was a justifiable homicide (occurring during a police shooting).
Of the 13 non-Indigenous deaths in police custody for which coronial information about the manner of death was available, eight (62%) were justifiable homicides (all police shootings), three (23%) were self-inflicted and two (15%) were due to accident or misadventure.

Read the AIC media release.

New data released on human trafficking and modern slavery in Australia

Link to: Modern slavery in Australia 2024–25

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released a new report on modern slavery in Australia using 2024–25 data from the Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery National Minimum Dataset.

Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, the Australian Federal Police received 371 reports of alleged modern slavery. Of these, 132 reports were accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn.
A total of 160 offences were identified from the 132 reports accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn. A third of offences related to exit trafficking (32%, n=51), 29 percent to forced marriage (n=46), and 14 percent to sexual servitude (n=23).
The majority of identified victim-survivors were female (87%, n=111) and most identified perpetrators (89%, n=78) were male.
Over three-quarters of victim-survivors (77%, n=99) knew the suspected perpetrator. Forty-four percent (n=56) were allegedly exploited by a family member and 30 percent (n=38) by an intimate partner.
A total of 152 victim-survivors were referred to the Support for Trafficked People Program and 63 victim-survivors were referred to the Forced Marriage Specialist Support Program. Victim-survivors received, on average, six and four types of support respectively during the 2024–25 period.
Fifteen victim-survivors were granted a visa under the Human Trafficking Visa Framework in 2024–25.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions received or continued 30 matters involving human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offences in 2024–25. Five defendants were convicted for a total of nine charges by 30 June 2025.

Read the AIC media release.