140 additional officers

Crime scene & cybercrime in the sights of new criminals

Eight new criminal assistance units have now started work in the priority areas in this country. The focus is on IT forensics, crime scene and prevention work.

A text message with a callback number appears on the cell phone display. The cryptocurrency account has been hacked and, for security reasons, a transfer must be made via an app, the shocked caller is told on the phone. So urgently, in fact, that the frightened 27-year-old transferred his entire balance - a total of 11,400 dollars (around 10,800 euros) - to a supposedly secure wallet. From there, the fraudsters promptly transferred it to an unknown account.

Just a week earlier, a 19-year-old from Lower Austria had also fallen victim to cyber criminals. The young man was contacted by a supposed financial advisor after his Bitcoin account was allegedly illegally accessed. To be on the safe side, he transferred his balance of 6000 dollars (around 5700 euros) to another wallet. Again, the money disappeared immediately. The figures show that these are not isolated cases. In the past ten years, the number of cybercrimes has increased fivefold - by 21% in 2023 alone.

Whether cryptocurrency or crime scene work: Minister of the Interior Karner and Chief of Police Popp got an idea of the work of the specialists during their visit to Wieselburg.(Bild: LPD NÖ)

For this reason, the police are also making significant improvements here: the plans for the criminal investigation service reform were presented in autumn 2023, and 31 of the 38 criminal investigation service units (KAD) across Austria will be operational in June 2024. The vast country is home to a total of eight of them.

Current cases of fraud on the net
Such as those in Wieselburg and Krems, where four officers focus on and specialize in crime scene work, cybercrime and prevention. There are to be eleven here by 2028. The criminal assistance posts are intended to "bring specialist expertise" in these key areas "to the regions", as state police director Franz Popp emphasized last year.

The criminal investigation service reform means that experts from the criminal investigation department are available to people in the regions.

Innenminister Gerhard Karner

Each of the eight offices is responsible for two to three districts in the region. 140 additional officers were needed for the reform. Following training by specialists from the State Office of Criminal Investigation, the KAD officers also receive the appropriate equipment, such as special technical devices and their own crime scene bus. "This will further improve the quality of investigative work," explained Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) during his visit to Wieselburg.

Training officers in cybercrime
The fight against the internet mafia is also set to continue in this country: In addition to the new criminal investigation departments in Melk, a provisional cyber training center has been set up. In future, every police officer will be trained here in the fight against cybercrime. Furthermore, a new 24-hour support service is available to the assistant detectives to ensure greater operational reliability. The State Office of Criminal Investigation is also being upgraded with a unit to combat organized crime.