Hanoi Convention: US newspaper highlights the role of the landmark treaty

The United Nations has hailed the treaty as a major step forward in reducing the number of areas in the world where cybercriminals can hide, which has been a major weakness in previous investigative efforts.

According to a VNA correspondent in Washington, with the headline “Campaign to crack down on cybercrime spreads globally,” Politico reported on October 27 that more than 60 United Nations member states signed the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime ( Hanoi Convention) in Vietnam last weekend, calling it a landmark treaty to deal with global cybercrime activities.

Dismantling cybercrime hubs is no small task, the paper said, adding that the move marks the latest, and one of the largest, efforts by governments around the world to tackle transnational organized crime, particularly through online fraud hubs and other forms of cybercrime that are on the rise.

The newspaper quoted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying at the signing ceremony of the Convention on October 25 that “cyberspace has become a fertile ground for crime.”

Every day, sophisticated scams are defrauding families, stealing livelihoods and draining billions of dollars from economies .

Online fraud began to explode during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since grown into a massive network, targeting victims worldwide. The US Treasury recently revealed that Americans lost more than $10 billion to these criminal activities last year alone.

Common schemes include cryptocurrency scams and “digital arrest scams,” in which victims are accused of illegal activity and threatened to transfer money in exchange for “clearance.”

Another form of scam is the “pig butchering scam,” in which a scammer builds trust with a victim over time, then convinces them to invest in a fake project, often involving digital currencies.

These operations rely heavily on human trafficking and forced labor to operate on a large scale.

As one of the largest-scale efforts to tackle fraud centers to date, the Hanoi Convention establishes a framework for law enforcement agencies around the world to coordinate cybercrime investigations.

This includes exchanging electronic evidence and establishing a network to request cooperation, including extradition or legal assistance, between countries during investigations.

The United Nations hailed the pact as a major step in reducing the number of areas around the world where cybercriminals can hide or set up base, which has been a major weakness in previous investigative efforts against fraud hubs.

Governments around the world and many private corporations have recently taken strong actions to disrupt the factors that are nurturing these cybercrime networks./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/cong-uoc-ha-noi-bao-my-de-cao-vai-tro-cua-hiep-uoc-mang-tinh-buoc-ngoat-post1073149.vnp