NOTIONES Fifth Workshop: AI Aiding and Abetting Online Crime

The NOTIONES project is in its final year. On 26 January 2026, it was time the for its fifth and final workshop. The Fifth Workshop was held online, gathering expert speakers and over 20 participants from the consortium. 

The first half of the workshop was designed to hold a main presentation by an expert in online payment fraud from EUROPOL. This was followed by a second half where experts from Laurea University of Applied Sciences and ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) gave insight to their areas of expertise.

The first session explored different forms of online payment fraud and what EUROPOL does in this area. For example, European police forces have succeeded in bringing down well-organised criminal operations in so called “cybercrime-as-a-service”. An operation called “SIMCARTEL” became a publicised example. In this case investigators from Austria, Estonia, and Latvia with Europol and Eurojust worked together to attribute cyber fraud of several million euros to a group functioning in Latvia.

The two other presentations gave insight into how generative artificial intelligence affects the breadth and scale of criminal operations. The second speaker described how the use of AI in criminal operations developed over the years and shed light on the misuse and abuse of frontier large language models for scaling cybercriminal activities. The third speaker talked about combatting online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). A central point of the third speaker was that in addition keeping up with technological developments for law enforcement, designing safe and secure platforms from the outset is essential for minors in online spaces.

All three speakers and presentations received excellent feedback from the audience, rating the substance, depth as well as relevance to the NOTIONES Coordination and Support Action between 4–5 on a scale of 1–5. The workshop provided a platform for experts to share their knowledge, and for participants to gain a deeper understanding of these pressing issues. 

The aim of the Fifth Workshop was to inform and fertilise the collaborative learning and development happening in NOTIONES working groups. The fifth and final round of working groups can make use of the insights and literature provided the expert speakers, for example in preparation of research and developments project applications for soon-to-be-opened calls.

Author: Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Keywords: workshop, event, crime, AI, NOTIONES, Working Group