The UAE has called for closer international cooperation to investigate cyber-fraud networks, freeze criminal assets and recover money stolen from victims, warning that artificial intelligence is helping fraudsters operate at greater scale.
The call came during a Ministry of Interior session at the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi. Colonel Dana Humaid Al Marzouqi, the ministry’s Director-General of International Affairs, said authorities should pursue the people who organise and finance fraud operations, as well as the money-laundering networks that support them.
Al Marzouqi said AI has made methods such as voice and identity impersonation more effective. She cited an estimate that AI-enabled fraud can generate 4.5 times greater returns, though the report did not detail the basis for that figure. She said the technology was one part of a wider criminal enterprise involving illicit finance, human trafficking and corruption.
The UAE’s proposed approach includes intelligence sharing, joint investigations and faster action to freeze assets across borders. It also calls for people trafficked and forced to take part in fraud schemes to be treated as victims and given support, alongside those who have lost money to fraud.
The session brought together representatives from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, ASEANAPOL and police agencies in Australia and Singapore, among other specialists. The report did not announce a new agreement or joint operation arising from the meeting.
