The FBI released the below information:
The statistics gathered by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
for 2018 show Internet-enabled theft, fraud, and exploitation remain pervasive
and were responsible for a staggering $2.7 billion in financial losses in 2018.
In its annual Internet Crime
Report, the FBI reports the IC3 received 351,936 complaints in
2018—an average of more than 900 every day. The most frequently reported
complaints were for non-payment/non-delivery scams, extortion, and personal
data breaches. The most financially costly complaints involved business email
compromise, romance or
confidence fraud, and investment scams, which can include Ponzi and
pyramid schemes.
Reports came in from every U.S. state and territory and involved victims of
every age. There was a concentration of victims and financial losses, however,
among individuals over the age of 50.
“The 2018 report shows how prevalent these crimes are,” said Donna Gregory,
chief of the IC3. “It also shows that the financial toll is substantial and a
victim can be anyone who uses a connected device. Awareness is one powerful
tool in efforts to combat and prevent these crimes. Reporting is another. The
more information that comes into the IC3, the better law enforcement is able to
respond.”
The bright spots reported by the IC3 include the establishment in February
2018 of the Recovery Asset Team and its success in recovering funds lost in
business email compromise scams. These sophisticated scams involve perpetrators
infiltrating businesses’ email accounts and requesting fraudulent wire
transfers or gift card purchases.
The Recovery Asset Team has helped streamline communication with financial
institutions and assist FBI field offices in the recovery of funds for
businesses that report a fraudulent domestic transfer. The team was able to
successfully recover more than $192 million in funds—a recovery rate of 75
percent.
One recovery success came in Colorado, where a victim wired $56,179.27 for
a home purchase to a thief after receiving a spoofed email request from the
lending agent. The Recovery Asset Team worked with the Denver Field Office and
the victim’s bank to freeze the funds transfer and return $54,000 of the stolen
money.
To improve the chances of a successful recovery, it is imperative that
victims contact their bank immediately upon discovering a fraudulent
transaction as well as report the crime to the IC3.
The large number of complaints captured by the IC3 in 2018 also helped
improve the data available to all law enforcement entities as they search for
connections among cases and look for trends and patterns in crimes and victims.
In addition, the IC3’s Operation Wellspring Initiative helps build the cyber
investigative capability and capacity of state and local law enforcement by
linking them to the FBI’s field offices for support on identifying and
responding to malicious cyber activity.
In 2018, the IC3 also worked with the FBI’s Victim Services Division to add
staff to help better serve the victims of cyber-enabled crime. The victim
specialist-Internet crimes position helps provide crisis intervention services,
assess victim needs, and refer victims to additional resources.
The IC3 website provides a list of common and
current scams as well as tips on how to avoid being a victim of an
Internet-enabled crime. The most important prevention tips
include keeping hardware and software updated and protected by anti-virus
programs and strong passwords. The other steps include learning how to
recognize suspicious messages and requests and researching and verifying the
legitimacy of every offer, person, message, or opportunity encountered online.
The IC3 was created in 2000 to provide the public with a reliable and
convenient reporting mechanism to submit information to the FBI concerning
suspected Internet-facilitated criminal activity and to develop effective
alliances with industry partners. Learn more at ic3.gov.
No comments:
Post a Comment