Strawman - An Indispensable Element in Many Cybercrimes. A Legal and Forensic Perspective on the Role of a Strawman in Crimes Committed Remotely

<ns3:p>Many cybercrimes require the involvement of a so-called ‘straw man’, i.e. a person who provides his or her identity for the purpose of registering a bank account, SIM card or commercial company. Access to banking, telecommunication services and business entities facilitates, and sometimes conditions, the successful execution of the criminal intent. The article presents the role of the straw man in legal and criminological terms, seeking answers to the questions: what circumstances accompany a person becoming a straw man and what consequences in the sphere of criminal law such action may have. Specific legal qualifications of offences that person acting as a straw man might be subject to are presented, depending on the extent of his/her involvement in and knowledge of the criminal activity. This information is preceded by an explanation of the activities for which a straw man is used in the structure of cybercrime in general, mainly in the context of profiting from such an act (monetising it). The article is based both on the body of criminal law doctrine and criminalistics, as well as on the experience resulting from the author's prosecution practice and specific examples from case law.</ns3:p>