Have
you been a victim of Internet Crime? If so, you can
get help.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)* accepts online
Internet crime complaints from either the Internet crime victim who
believes they were defrauded or from a third party to the
complainant. If you have been victimized, your can file a complaint
at their website.
http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
In their recent Press Release (03/31/09) The Internet Crime
Complaint Center (IC3) announced their "IC3 2008 Annual
Report on Internet Crime"
The Report states that complaints of online crime hit a record high
in 2008. IC3 received a total of 275,284 complaints, a 33.1%
increase over the previous year.
The total dollar loss linked to online fraud was $265 million,
about $25 million more than in 2007. |
|
Year Complaints Received
Dollar Loss
2008 275,284
$265.00 million
2007 206,884
$239.09 million
2006 207,492
$198.44 million
2005 231,493
$183.12 million
2004 207,449
$68.14 million |
The average individual loss amounted to $931.
While the complaints consisted of a variety of fraud
types, non-delivery of merchandise
and/or payment ranked number one (32.9%). Internet auction fraud was
the second
most reported offense (25.5%) followed by credit/debit card fraud
(9.0%).
FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry said, "This
report illustrates that
sophisticated computer fraud schemes continue to flourish as
financial data migrates to
the Internet. It also underscores the need for continued
vigilance on the part of law
enforcement, businesses, and the home computer user to be aware
of these schemes
and employ sound security procedures."
The report is posted in its entirety on the IC3 website.
http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreports.aspx
It's important to know that you can obtain help and guidance if
you, or any of your friends and family are victimized by Internet
crooks. Consider bookmarking the IC3 website.
.. Richard Rossbauer
Follow
me on Twitter
(*)The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), is a partnership
between the FBI and the
National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) |