Europol EC3 (European Cybercrime Centre)

The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) was established within Europol in 2013 to serve as the focal point for EU law enforcement efforts against cybercrime, including payment card fraud, online banking theft, ransomware, child sexual exploitation online, and cyber-dependent crime. EC3 does not have independent arrest powers; instead, it provides member state police forces with analytical support, technical expertise, forensic tools, and coordination infrastructure for large-scale investigations.

EC3 operates several standing platforms for international cooperation, including the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT), which coordinates investigations involving police from multiple EU and non-EU countries. It also supports annual campaigns such as the EMAS (European Money Mule Action) initiative targeting money mule networks, and Operation Webmaster targeting online marketplace fraud.

Ordinary consumers in EU member states do not report directly to EC3. Fraud reports should be directed to national agencies (e.g., Action Fraud in the UK, BKA Cybercrime in Germany, Police nationale's THESEE platform in France). EC3 aggregates intelligence from these national agencies and from partner bodies such as the Financial Intelligence Units of member states. Consumers can follow EC3's public communications on social media and the Europol website for alerts about active fraud campaigns affecting the EU.