Terrorist organizations are now increasingly investing in legitimate businesses on stock exchanges around the world to raise funds for their operations, a study has found.

The Sakinah Campaign in the Kingdom conducted the study, which found that the investments are mainly made in countries where there is a lack of financial controls and supervision.

These organizations use fake names as cover when making investments. They are also involved in clothes and textile trading in certain countries, the study found.

In a statement released to the media recently, Sakinah officials said that this showed a clear shift in strategy after a reliance on drug trafficking and seeking ransoms from European and American countries for kidnapped hostages.

They said these organizations have turned to e-commerce because their activities are difficult to detect, and they can operate remotely. He said there are skilled traders, with a high degree of technical and financial knowledge, operating on stock exchanges for extremist groups.

The Sakinah campaign officials said that terrorist organizations have resorted to e-commerce after the crackdown by governments across the world on individuals and organizations raising funds for these groups, including closer monitoring of financial transfers.

The study said the terrorist organizations have also started forging money transfers, checks and bank transfers. They use sophisticated hacking software to rob bank accounts. One terrorist group robbed a bank in a European country recently using very advanced computers, laser printers and scanners, the study found.

The study stressed that there is close cooperation between organized crime and terrorist operators, to buy forged travel documents.

The Sakinah (Tranquility) Campaign, which is supported by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Islamic Affairs, is an independent, nongovernmental counter-radicalization initiative. It uses Islamic scholars to interact online with individuals looking for religious knowledge, with the objective of steering them away from extremism.