Investigative.One has launched a new online project www.josiphebdo.com

New York - The U.S. editorial collective "Investigative One" has launched a new online project: www.josiphebdo.com. "We want to shed light on dark business networks and illegal methods," says Kaitlin Jackson, who is overseeing the current project around an alleged cryptocurrency and international fraud network. "International crime syndicates can manipulate opinions, deceive people and grab billions via the Internet. With josiphebdo.com, we want to educate and warn."

The project was born out of a merger of several editorial offices in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and an African investigative journalists' network. Jackson: "We want to take care of issues that are of international importance. We also want to shed light on these networks, which use different legal systems, corrupt lawyers and lawless spaces for their dark dealings."

Investigative One works closely with national and international consumer protection organizations. Kaitlin Jackson: "We have also received numerous requests from investigators in recent weeks to use us as a hub and information platform because information sharing is slow and complicated, even among police departments. With our research and publications, we have up-to-the-minute information and can make up for the time lag these crime syndicates give investigators."

With josiphebdo.com, a special editorial concept is also followed: there is always only one central topic on which the journalists work internationally. Once this work is done, a new project starts. Kaitlin Jackson: "We already know what the next topics will be. Many fraudulent concepts develop slowly. We see that in our current reporting as well. Especially when there are many people involved in a fraud, it takes a long time to work through it, and it takes a particularly large amount of time and effort. Our current reporting involves more than two dozen reporters, investigators and specialists."

This concerns an illegal cryptocurrency and people from organized crime who are cashing in millions from unsuspecting investors and networkers with baseless promises and manipulations. "The funds have disappeared never to be seen again," Kaitlin Jackson describes the current work. "Because the fraud is taking place in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Europe, South America - in fact, worldwide, the investigative and monitoring agencies can't even respond that quickly."

On top of that, reporters and editors face massive threats from the people responsible: "Death threats are the norm," says Kaitlin Jackson. "That's another reason why we're international, and why we appreciate the financial support of foundations, companies and individuals who help us work against all forms of crime. But we also have the problem that we can only work on one issue at a time."

"Whoever has been a victim of the methods of these crime syndicates can contact us and we will take care of it quickly and in the right places. Bloggers, YouTubers, editors and anyone who reports in public about the issues that are also a focus of ours can contact us and get help. We can promise that."

Incidentally, the name josiphebdo.com came about on a whim of the editorial team: "We didn't know whether to cry or laugh at what we knew was going on," says Kaitlin Jackson, "We immediately thought of a French magazine that was raided for a cartoon. And since our first big subject was a person named Josip, we came up with josiphebdo.com. 

Hebdo, by the way, means weekly."