Ulaanbaatar - The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in close collaboration with the Bali Process Regional Support Office (RSO), and the Coordination Council of Crimes Prevention of Mongolia conducted the third of the three-session trainings on Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) for Mongolian law enforcement officials. The last training was held for two days on 12-13 June 2024, at Topaz conference room of Blue Sky Hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The third session continued building knowledge and practical skills on OSINT and provided in-depth knowledge on semi-automated and automated data scraping methods. The session also introduced two paid OSINT tools with guaranteed access for all participants relevant to investigating and prosecuting trafficking in persons cases focusing on collecting relevant information based on the suspect's digital footprints, social media chat conversations and further, focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) generated tools such as ChatGPT to support their investigations.

Nineteen participants (15 males and 4 females) from five relevant organization attended the training. The participants were the same personnels from the last two training sessions, namely from Criminal Police Department, University of Internal Affairs, General Intelligence Agency, Forensic Sciences Institute, and Passenger Information Unit.

Ms. Anne-Lynn Dudenhoefer, an accomplished OSINT analyst and expert trainer from Germany, and Mr. Ryan Winch, the Transnational Crime & Technology Programme Manager at The Bali Process Regional Support Office (RSO) on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons & Related Transnational Crime, based in Bangkok were invited as expert trainers for the three sessions. Ms. Lindsay Erjavic, Transnational Crime & Technology Programme Officer of Bali Process RSO joined the third training to introduce the Bali Process Alumni groups and a recent study on the regional trend on corruption at border related to trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM).

"By attending these series of trainings, I have broader skills to collect evidence from online environment; breaking the traditional way of collecting evidence; and I have skills to view suspected users of social media platforms from different perspective," said a participant, detective, Crime Police Department of Mongolia.

The closing remarks were given by three distinguished representatives of organizers, partners and stakeholders of the project: Mr. B.Odmandakh, Head of the Crimes Prevention Council Department of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs; Mr. Daniel Sam, Programme Manager of IOM Mongolia; and Mr. Ryan Winch, Programme Manager of the Transnational Crime & Technology, Bali Process RSO.

"Strengthening Mongolia's Cyber-Crime Investigations on Human Trafficking" Project

The trainings were conducted under "Strengthening Mongolia's Cyber-Crime Investigations on Human Trafficking" project funded by IOM Development Fund.

The project aimed to enhance Mongolia's cyber-crime investigations on human trafficking, addressing the escalating misuse of information and communication technology by traffickers. The project emphasizes the importance of open-source intelligence in supporting criminal investigations worldwide.

The unique multi-workshop format, with the same participants joining three workshops over 6 months, allowed the participants to build significantly on foundational skills of OSINT.

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For more information, please contact Daniel Sam at IOM Mongolia, Email: dsam@iom.int