The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to deploy four of its cybercrime experts to investigate cybercrimes globally.
The move, which comes as part of a pilot program, will see the agents stationed in Australia, Singapore, Colombia, and Germany from June to September 2023, according to a report by TechCrunch.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 07: A small sign indicates the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service on April 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Treasury Department announced an $80 billion plan for the IRS to become a “digital first” tax collector and focus on improving customer service and cracking down on tax evasion by corporations and the wealthy.
IRS' Global Expansion
The IRS is increasing its efforts to combat cybercrimes by hiring four new agents to work abroad in combating the use of cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, and mixing services in international financial and tax crimes.
This marks a significant expansion from the IRS's previous staffing of only one cyber investigator abroad in The Hague, Netherlands, who worked primarily with Europol since 2021.
The IRS's executive director for global operations policy and support for IRS-CI, Guy Ficco, announced the expansion during a panel at the Chainalysis Links conference on April 4.
According to IRS spokesperson Carissa Cutrell, the success of the program will hinge on the agent's ability to work cooperatively, train foreign law enforcement counterparts, and develop leads for criminal investigations.
Following the 120-day trial period, the IRS will decide whether to retain the agents in the new countries.
Chris Janczewski, a former special agent in the IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit, emphasized the importance of expanding the agency's overseas presence for advancing international investigations.
He explained that, depending on the country involved, different legal procedures may be required to obtain evidence.
As a result, the cyber attache can act as the case agent's proxy when coordinating with foreign partners on investigative needs. However, he notes that fast-moving investigations often require real-time informal information, which can be challenging to obtain.
In addition to the five new cyber investigators, the IRS has attaché posts in 11 countries around the world, including Mexico, Canada, Colombia, Panama, Barbados, China, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.
These attaché posts provide CI with the opportunity to develop leads for both domestic and international investigations that have international connections.
Significant Step
The IRS has been instrumental in carrying out crucial investigations on the dark web, as part of major international operations that involved shutting down AlphaBay, a marketplace for drugs and hacking services, taking down the largest child abuse website on the internet, and other initiatives.
The expansion of the IRS's global efforts to fight cybercrime represents a significant step toward streamlining international investigations and combating the use of cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, and mixing services in international financial and tax crimes.
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