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Cases regarding crime-as-a-service have increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign intelligence operations in Europe are taking a quieter, more unpredictable turn. Authorities say the people involved often look like ordinary citizens, not trained agents.
Behind the shift is a growing reliance on civilians recruited online, sometimes for small payments or a sense of adventure.
Dutch intelligence officials warn this evolution is making espionage harder to detect and prevent.
Crime as a service
Ait Daoud, who leads efforts against such threats in the Netherlands, told POLITICO that foreign services are increasingly outsourcing risky tasks.
“It’s not as if there’s a note saying, ‘Greetings from Russia’ or ‘Greetings from Iran,’” he said. “Sometimes it’s simply: ‘Do you want to set fire to something for €5,000?’”
He described the trend as “crime as a service,” with individuals taking on assignments without formal ties to intelligence agencies.
Not like terrorism
According to POLITICO, activity linked to Russia has intensified since the invasion of Ukraine, though concerns also extend to China and Iran.
Elsewhere in Europe, governments are warning citizens about recruitment tactics. Germany recently urged people to avoid becoming what it called “disposable agents.”
Unlike terrorism, which often leaves visible signs, these operations unfold in a murky space, largely online.
Social media drives the phenomenon
Ait Daoud told POLITICO that recruitment is believed to happen on platforms such as Telegram, with targets ranging from infrastructure to institutions.
A recent Dutch case involved two teenagers suspected of mapping internet traffic near key buildings in The Hague.
Daoud told POLITICO that such incidents highlight how those involved are often “not necessarily hardened criminals or professional spies.”
Crime as a service used in gang war
The concept of “crime as a service” is not limited to foreign state actors waging hybrid war.
In Denmark, the police are fighting an increase in killings and other types of crime being ordered online by gang members in other countries.
2024 and 2025 saw an increasing number of cases in which Swedish criminals tried to recruit teenagers and children to commit crimes like bombings, shootings, and killings.
The young people are usually recruited through social media, and authorities believe the increase is linked to gang warfare.
In May 2025, the Danish National Special Crime Unit announced that it had arrested seven people linked to crime as a service. Four of these were Swedish nationals.
Europol has launched Operational Taskforce GRIMM to counter the increase in crime as a service.
Sources: POLITICO, Dutch National Investigations and Special Operations Unit statements, Danish National Special Crime Unit, Europol
