High-ranking police officers in India will receive cryptocurrency training to help with investigations involving digital currency.
The country’s national police academy – the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVP NPA) – has launched an educational course to help officers gain an understanding of how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology work.
Additionally, officers will learn about the “legal aspects of cryptocurrencies, crimes committed using cryptocurrencies, [and], investigation of cases involving cryptocurrencies.”
The course, which will start in September, comes weeks after several other police forces announced similar educational initiatives and amid a flurry of cryptocurrency-related criminal activity in India.
In January, it was revealed that Indian scammers stole $2m in cryptocurrency using inspirational Bill Gates quotes.
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More recently, police in India busted a call center scam that targeted US citizens, arresting 78 people.
Just last week, a bank manager in the country was arrested in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme crackdown.
Europol made headlines when it revealed it was developing a game to help law enforcers learn how to trace and investigate the illicit uses of cryptocurrencies.
Last year, City of London Police launched its first ever UK training course on cryptocurrencies.
Unlike cash, which can’t be traced and is also used to fund illicit activities, some cryptocurrency transactions can be tracked on public blockchains.
It’s refreshing to see that authorities across the globe are trying to catch up with technology in a bid to crackdown on crime, but it remains to be seen just how effective these educational schemes will be.
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