Partner organisations participating in the CyberShield programme held a press conference to report on recent results such as successful police apprehensions, the CyberTuesday campaign and further opportunities for prevention.
Today, we are increasingly seeing fraudulent practices in the online space. In order to reduce this type of crime, in 2022 the National Bank of Hungary, the Hungarian Banking Association, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, the National Cyber Defence Institute of the National Security Service and the National Police Headquarters decided to establish a joint educational and communication co-operation scheme under the name of CyberShield.
At the press conference held on 11 July 2023 at the Police Headquarters, László Oláh-Paulon, Police Lieutenant Colonel, Head of the Crime Prevention Department at the National Police Headquarters, first spoke about the fact that, in addition to crime prevention activities, the police are also engaged in significant investigation activities in cyberspace. He also reported on a recent successful case where, with the co-ordination of the National Bureau of Investigation of the Intervention Police Force, several people were arrested on 26 June 2023 in a nationwide operation involving several counties, on suspicion of money laundering and fraud.
On behalf of the National Cyber Defence Institute of the National Security Service (NBSZ NKI), Tamás Marsi, Head of Department, drew attention to two types of fraud related to online shops. The first type is where the sites actually sell goods, but instead of the ordered item, the customer receives a significantly cheaper and lower-quality product, or nothing at all. Another type of fraud is where there is no commercial intent behind the website at all, and the online store is merely a phishing site. These online shops can be identified, among other things, by the fact that it is almost impossible to find the shop or the merchants and operators, they have very long delivery times, the products are outstandingly good value for money and only card payments are possible, and only in advance. Recently, NBSZ NKI has received an increasing number of reports of fraudulent transactions where the seller asks the buyer to install a program on their computer where they can transfer out the price of the goods. If they do so, the criminals control of the device, steal their personal data and possibly loot their bank accounts.
Dr. Rajmund Dorogi, Chief Ministerial Advisor for Victim Assistance at the Ministry of Justice, explained that in 2023, the Victim Assistance and Consumer Protection area of the Ministry of Justice was also paying special attention to addressing offences in the online space, which is why the Ministry joined the CyberShield programme earlier this year. An awareness-raising and information campaign, CyberTuesday, was launched in early May to raise awareness of the dangers as widely as possible. Every Tuesday, the Victim Support Centre focused on topics such as "Nigerian-style fraud", wangiri, vishing, phishing and smishing on its social media platforms. As of 8 August 2023, other organisations will also join the CyberTuesday campaign, meaning that on the first Tuesday of each month, all participants in the programme will simultaneously communicate via their respective channels on the topic of digital security. In addition to the information and prevention messages, the Chief Advisor stressed that if someone is in trouble, they should contact their nearest Victim Support Centre or Point, or call the Victim Support Line, available free of charge 24 hours a day on 06-80-225-225.
11 July 2023