Contrary to many Hollywood depictions, the main victims of cybercrime are seldom the wealthy and powerful with deep bank accounts ripe to be emptied by clever hackers and digital grifters.

Assassinations have long been part of criminal and often even political economies in east and the south of Africa, but according to a new report by a Swiss-based independent civil-society organization, they are decreasing now after a long period of rising rates in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) said on Monday that although the European Union made more money available to member states so they can fight the pandemic, the financial impact of detected fraud against the EU budget continued to decline in 2020.

Italian financial police have seized more than 11 million euro (US$12.89 million) and more than 3.5 million protective face masks in an operation in the Emilia-Romagna region, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) saidFriday.

Four people suspected of “abuse of official position or authority” in multi-million-dollar purchases of COVID-19-related medical protection equipment were arrested this week in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Nearly 90 poor Moldovan women trafficked into “horrid conditions” as domestic workers in Italy have been rescued and the criminals arrested, thanks to police cooperation in Italy and Moldova.

Cutting down on the newest Illegal trade, New York authorities brought charges against the  suspected leaders of a criminal conspiracy devoted to forging vaccination cards and falsifying the city’s vaccine records, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Interpol circulated a global alert on Monday, warning the general public of organized crime groups that seek to profit off of selling fake COVID-19 vaccines.

Police in Ireland, the Netherlands and Romania detained 10 and charged 23 people in a joint operation targeting an online scam that involved the sale of masks and other protective materials against COVID-19 that were never delivered.

Experts restored on Thursday the website that handles the services of Italy’s Lazio region after cybercriminals forced the administration to shut it down on Sunday, delaying the inoculation process in Italy's second most populous region. 

At the time the United States and European countries had banned or limited export of vaccines against the coronavirus to first deal with the pandemic at home, Russia was willing to share its Sputnik V with countries in need.

The COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world has made people poorer and more vulnerable to human trafficking, according to the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

Brazil will suspend its US$324 million contract for India’s Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine upon the recommendation of Brazil’s Comptroller General office (CGU), Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said Tuesday.

In Russia,  local news reports that a sophisticated black market for fake vaccine cards is thriving in secret Telegram forums even as COVID-19 runs rampant through the country.

French and Israeli police have dismantled a criminal network that is believed to have swindled France out of 12 million euro (US$14.32 million) in COVID-19 unemployment benefits, Europol said in a statement on Wednesday.

Whistleblowing is one of the most effective ways to detect and prevent corruption and other malpractice, and people who dare to speak up need to be properly protected, Transparency International (TI) said, marking the June 23 — World Whistleblowers Day.

Human rights campaigners urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday to take steps to ensure a three-year loan for Cameroon is not squandered due to corruption.

A Europe-wide coordinated operation targeting human trafficking and labour exploitation led over the past few weeks to hundreds of arrests and the identification of at least 630 laborers who were potential victims of different types of exploitative conditions, Europol said in a statement.

Almost two-thirds of European Union residents believe corruption is an issue in their respective countries, according to a new report published on Tuesday which calls into question the EU’s image as a “place of integrity”.

Transparency International warned on Tuesday that the lack of transparency in COVID-19 vaccine trials and the secrecy over deals between governments and drug companies jeopardize the success of the global pandemic response.