Luxembourg's MPs highlighted a problem familiar to many residents: digital fraud is becoming an everyday threat. As Sam Tanson from The Greens (déi gréng) noted, "Not a week goes by without someone hearing about a friend or acquaintance falling victim to digital fraud."
The Financial Intelligence Unit (Cellule de renseignement financier, CRF) has warned that digital attacks are growing both in frequency and sophistication. The CRF's director, Max Braun, explained that phishing messages, fraudulent investment offers, and attacks involving cryptocurrencies are on the rise.
"What we are seeing – both at the CRF and among other authorities – is that it is increasingly difficult to recover stolen funds. The 'follow the money' principle is not working as well as it used to", Braun stated.
"Unless action is taken within the first 24 hours, the chances of getting the money back are slim. This underlines just how crucial prevention is if we want to get a handle on the problem,” Braun explained further.
To strengthen the fight against such crimes, bill 8722 aims to grant the CRF the authority to share information about suspicious accounts or cryptocurrency addresses with other banks and financial institutions, which is not currently allowed under existing law.
The bill also takes into account the growing issue of cybercrime linked to cryptocurrencies, with the CRF expecting around 1,000 reports per month from that sector this year.
Justice Minister Élisabeth Margue on Thursday morning presented bill 8734, a legislative proposal urgently needed to address cyberviolence in Luxembourg. The new bill aims to respond more concretely to phenomena emerging in the digital age, particularly the sharing of explicit or sexualised images, Margue said.
According to Margue, the draft law would make it a criminal offence to distribute such images without consent – even if the original recording was consensual – with the intent to provide greater protection against digital abuse.
Luxembourg's government intends the bill to go further than the requirements of the European directive, explicitly covering deepfakes and images manipulated with artificial intelligence. The draft also addresses psychological abuse and so-called 'coercive control', that is, digital surveillance or control of an individual.
According to the government, psychological violence remains a major challenge, as highlighted in the work of the recently established National Centre for Victims of Violence (CNVV).
The bill will now be reviewed by the Council of State.
In parallel with the legislative process, the government is planning a major awareness campaign, particularly targeting young people, to better inform the public about the risks associated with digital violence.
