The prevalence of internet fraud in Austria has been increasing for years, causing growing financial damage for victims. According to the latest Cybercrime Report published by the Federal Criminal Police Buro (Bundeskriminalamt), 24,069 cases were reported in 2023, an increase of 23.3 % compared to the previous year. Social media platforms and search engines are increasingly being used as gateways for internet fraud. This has led to enormous financial losses, particularly through fraudulent investment platforms. According to the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), these losses amounted to 12 million euros in 2023.
To date, few effective legal measures have been taken to curb this type of fraudulent advertising. However, with the help of the new regulatory instruments of the Digital Services Act (DSA), AdWatch is improving security in Austria by effectively combatting fraudulent advertising. The following objectives are being pursued:
Establishing a knowledge base pertaining to the modi operandi and the extent of fraudulent advertising as well as on criminal networks and vulnerabilities: The knowledge base encompasses the evaluation of existing suspected cases, the (cluster-) analyses of further cases, analyses of reach, targeting metrics, criminal strategies and the machine learning based identification of fraud indicators.
Partially automating relevant workflows for the detection, analysis, documentation and reporting of suspicious/fraudulent advertisements: Workflows will be defined to cover the entire process, from detecting and analysing suspected cases to documenting and reporting fraudulent advertising. The partial automation of these processes supports both legally admissible evidence preservation and the rapid removal of fraudulent advertising.
Developing recommendations to improve DSA compliance: Drawing upon the findings of legal analyses and empirical evaluations, the novel DSA approaches are evaluated in terms of their effectiveness. In turn, policy recommendations are derived. For example, analyses are carried out on the transparency obligations of advertising libraries, reporting processes, systemic risks and platform mitigation strategies.
Supporting law enforcement authorities: The results of the project AdWatch are intended for the Ministry of the Interior to support law enforcement. The DSA supervisory authorities are also provided with data, analyses and tools to enable them to enforce the DSA effectively.
Project Lead
Valentine Auer, Österreichisches Institut für Angewandte Telekommunikation
Partners
Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)
Bundesministerium für Inneres (BMI)
Österreichisches Institut für Angewandte Telekommunikation (ÖIAT)
Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien)
Contact
Valentine Auer
Ungargasse 64-66/3/404
1030 Wien
E-Mail: auer(at)oiat.at
Telefon: +43 1 595 21 12 27
Web: research.oiat.at
