Province providing Winnipeg police with $100K to combat cybercrimes

Winnipeg police are seeing a dramatic rise in cybercrimes, prompting the province to provide $100,000 to pay for additional training and new software to help investigators.

The number of cybercrimes, which include ransomware and phishing attacks, data breaches and cryptocurrency thefts, increased by 370 per cent between 2016 and 2020, according to the province.

Many of these incidents involve cryptocurrencies that can be difficult to trace, said Sgt. Trevor Thompson with the financial crimes unit of the Winnipeg Police Service during a news conference Wednesday.

"In my office, every day there are probably seven or eight files or reports to the Winnipeg police that involve cryptocurrency, and at least half of those will involve some type of fraud or scam perpetrated through an instant messaging platform or the internet," he said during a news conference.

Another challenge for investigators is that these crimes are often perpetrated by people overseas, he said.

"We're dealing with individuals, criminal organizations that are based overseas, maybe in places like Asia or in Africa, that are difficult to get to, difficult to reach," he said.

"So those investigations become complicated, especially when you throw in the use of cryptocurrencies."

The money provided by the province will be used tohelp five additional members of the WPS cybercrimes team to participate in the Cryptocurrency Tracing Certified Examiner training program. It will also go toward purchasing specialized software, such as CipherTrace and Blockchain Forensics, to trace illegal financial cyberspace activities and to locate offenders.

"It is vitally important that we shine that bright light into the dark places that aren't all physical places but are often cyber places where criminals lurk and are looking for victims," said Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen during the news conference.

Thompson said the best way to prevent becoming a victim of cybercrime, particularly those that involve cryptocurrency, is to educate yourself.

Typically, victims of these types of crimes are told about a potential investment that end up being fraudulent, he said, adding that criminals will prey on victims' lack of knowledge of how cryptocurrency works.