Recapitulation Overview of Cybercriminality in the Metaverse
The Metaverse as a virtual space is spreading in all directions, reinforced by technological innovations in networks as virtual spaces, transactions, and communication. The Metaverse, as a new space, offers both opportunities and disadvantages to its users. Apart from its opportunities and advantages, the Metaverse encourages, thanks to its potential for discretion, anonymity, decentralization, etc., multifaceted cybercrime and increases the risk of insecurity. For this reason, in this study, we attempt to examine the multiple vulnerabilities, traditional and innovative funding methods used by cybercriminals to achieve their objectives and disrupt society through the Metaverse. We also dedicate part of this work to the study and analysis of the new roles of AI in these manipulation processes and how it contributes to the execution of harmful activities in the Metaverse. We will follow a specific framework, synthesizing the results of previous studies to conduct a precise and comprehensive analysis of cybercrime in the Metaverse, our main objective being to capture the attention of local researchers and domain experts on these still ignored and less studied issues and challenges.
1. A description of the typology of cybercrimes in the Metaverse
Hadziselimovic (2022) believes that the Metaverse still retains traditional forms of online crime. But he also believes that thanks to the potentials of the Metaverse, forms of identity theft, fraud, phishing, social engineering attacks, etc., have become stronger. The decentralized nature and near-complete discretion of criminals in this space, leveraging the potentials of virtuality, immersion, availability, and ease of use, can serve the objectives of cybercriminals to use personal data, biometric data, privacy information, collected, circulated, and stored in the Metaverse, etc., for complex and unprecedented criminal activities (Benrimoh et al., 2022). Coupled with the absence of effective and harmful alert and combat mechanisms against ordinary cybercrime, this risks methodically amplifying the vulnerabilities and threats transferred to the Metaverse, against users (Andrejevic, 2022).
2. Attempt to limit the motivations and actors of cybercrime in the Metaverse
Park (2023) estimates that the delineation or precision of the intentions behind cybercrime in the virtual space—financial gain, moral or psychological satisfaction, revenge or damage to the reputation of public or private figures, disruption of societal security, destruction of services, and alteration of systems, etc.—varies depending on the personal, societal, environmental, political, and ideological intentions of the criminals. Determining not only the type of attack but also defining the impacts and helping to prevent the effects. In this sense, Hadziselimovic (2023) confirms that in the virtual space, groups of hackers and criminals are often present, but only criminals equipped with sophisticated tools and special technical means will succeed in the future in effectively disrupting a nascent space like the Metaverse. We add to this what Andrejevis (2022) believes about the transformation of cybercrime, which he estimates cannot only be of a criminal nature when criminals in the Metaverse deeply invest in conspiracy theories. Given that we have tried to shed light on the political and ideological origins behind certain cyber threats, this means that we can observe cyber threats in the Metaverse that conspire with state intelligence services to carry out espionage or disinformation activities.
3. Methods of financing cybercrime in the Metaverse
The financing of cybercrime is a complicated process that involves several steps and encompasses various forms and modalities, and since criminal groups in the Metaverse are making unprecedented innovations by inventing methods to circumvent control instruments and surveillance mechanisms. Among these innovations, Benrimoh (2022) asserts that money laundering is currently one of the few methods that international security services can intercept and stop, and also transactions involving virtual currencies (NFTs), arrangements on virtual assets and real estate, for example, also allow for easy transactions without triggering inter-state mechanisms of financial surveillance and control. Although these are illicit money laundering methods from a legal standpoint, Park (2023) confirms that criminals, through these and several other methods, can conceal and legitimize their illegal activities in the Metaverse, thereby making their financial gains from money laundering and illicit trade completely legal.
In addition to what has been mentioned above, cryptocurrencies are breaking records and crowning the activities of cybercriminals in the Metaverse. And despite the promises of professionals and cybersecurity experts, as well as advocates for blockchain transparency, transaction traceability, and significant fund transfers in the Metaverse, criminals still manage to bypass security mechanisms and controls and conceal the origin of their funds (Li et al., 2023). The element of anonymity and the lack of user identity requirements are determining factors for several virtual platforms, which are used in various ways to conceal the identity of criminals wishing to commit illegal acts in the Metaverse (Andrejevic, 2022).
4. Certain designations of security threats
Cybercriminals operating in the Metaverse often demonstrate a high degree of technical sophistication and strategic adaptability, allowing them to exploit vulnerabilities and effectively pursue their objectives. For example, criminals in the Metaverse can extract sensitive information from users by deceiving them into thinking they are other people they know, leading them to disclose critical data or spread harmful information to individuals (Hadziselimovic, 2023).
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are currently being used by cybercriminals to carry out these illicit tasks and refine their criminal activities. Experts and professionals are increasingly debating the advantages of AI in the field of cybersecurity and how the guidelines of this technology have managed to fill glaring gaps in cybersecurity. But, they are not aware of how this technology has also contributed to the execution of cybercriminal activities and the strengthening of their illegal processes.
According to Benrimoh (2022), AI has indeed contributed to the improvement of phishing activities, the refinement of identity forgery, the accuracy in analyzing computer vulnerabilities, etc., and has consequently facilitated access for potential criminals in the Metaverse. Li (2023) adds in this regard that the coupling of AI potentials, criminal cunning, and the promises of blockchain has enabled enormous gains for criminal groups by facilitating money laundering activities, illicit fund transactions, or even activities well beyond the particular profile towards more serious and dangerous implications.
5. Shortcomings and gaps in Moroccan virtual literature and cyber strategy
As confirmed by Park (2023), the Metaverse has been the subject of numerous studies and specific explorations that contain the particularities of their authors and contributors, who seek to address security requirements and the dangers of crime, but in most cases within a national context. Nevertheless, these research attempts may still not meet the expectations aimed at deeply understanding the challenges posed by the Metaverse in order to adapt and fight effectively, especially knowing that the latter transcends border frameworks and local legal standards.
And according to this analytical trajectory, Morocco’s cyber strategy, especially after its renewal through the 2030 ambition project, constitutes a significant advancement in terms of consolidating frameworks, devices, mechanisms, indices, and instruments of national cybersecurity, as well as in the development projects of national technological infrastructures (National Cybersecurity Strategy, 2030). But, it is still far from adopting measures or even specific chapters for the regulation and administration of the Metaverse. The efforts of Morocco’s national cybersecurity strategy do not yet assign specific and exclusive importance to the challenges posed by virtual environments in terms of security and social stability.
In this sense, we have observed the weakness of official efforts dedicated to the study and research on Metaverse issues at the national level, where we see that the transcendence and continuous transformation of these virtual spaces make it difficult to adapt research and study results to the continuous and innovative movement and change of this emerging technology. The organization of Interpol (2022) articulates our argument by confirming that the development of frameworks to prevent and anticipate cybercrime within the Metaverse seems to be a complex mission, even for states and international security organizations. Because the implementation of cooperation and collaboration policies, as well as the improvement of management frameworks in the fight against innovative cybercrime in virtual spaces, is also complicated according to Europol (2025), as states and intergovernmental organizations dedicated to finding responses to cross-border cybercrime, in addition to the insufficiency of efforts and capacities, these bodies still demand their disagreements with states on several issues of competence and intervention.
Public awareness and education efforts are also limited, despite Morocco’s involvement in several local and international processes and initiatives to raise public awareness about the risks in the Metaverse and cyberspace in general. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the Metaverse continues to propagate and share dangers and challenges of multiple and different natures. This requires the continuous updating of our combat strategies and prevention plans to secure virtual assets, legalize transactions, combat fraud, control transfers, and monitor suspicious activities in the Metaverse (Zaanoon, 2023).
REFERECES
Andrejevic, M. (2022). Meta-Surveillance in the Digital Enclosure. Surveillance & Society, 20(4), 390–396. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v20i4.16008
Benrimoh, D., Chheda, F. D., & Margolese, H. C. (2022). The Best Predictor of the Future—the Metaverse, Mental Health, and Lessons Learned From Current Technologies. JMIR Mental Health, 9(10), e40410. https://doi.org/10.2196/40410
Park, H., et al. (2023). Towards a Metaverse Workspace: Opportunities, Challenges, and Design Implications. Journal of Virtual Reality and Digital Collaboration. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581306
Interpol. (2022). ” Interpol technology assessment report on metaverse.” https://www.interpol.int/content/download/18440/file/INTERPOL%20Tech%20Assessment-%20Metaverse.pdf