Internet Crimes Complain Center 2009 Report

IC3 has released their 2009 annual report. http://www.ic3.gov/media/2010/100312.aspx

For Immediate Release
March 12, 2010
IC3 2009 Annual Report on Internet Crime Released
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), released the 2009 Annual Report about fraudulent activity on the Internet today.

Online crime complaints increased substantially once again last year, according to the report. The IC3 received a total of 336,655 complaints, a 22.3 percent increase from 2008. The total loss linked to online fraud was $559.7 million; this is up from $265 million in 2008.

Year Complaints Received Dollar Loss
2009 336,655 $559.7 million
2008 275,284 $265 million
2007 206,884 $239.09 million
2006 207,492 $198.44 million
2005 231,493 $183.12 million

Although the complaints consisted of a variety of fraud types, advanced fee scams that fraudulently used the FBI's name ranked number one (16.6 percent). Non-delivery of merchandise and/or payment was the second most reported offense (11.9 percent).

The 2009 Annual Report details information related to the volume and scope of complaints, complainant and perpetrator characteristics, geographical data, most frequently reported scams and results of IC3 referrals.

“Law enforcement relies on the corporate sector and citizens to report when they encounter on-line suspicious activity so these schemes can be investigated and criminals can be arrested,” stated Peter Trahon, Section Chief of the FBI's Cyber Division. “Computer users are encouraged to have up-to-date security protection on their devices and evaluate email solicitations they receive with a healthy skepticism—if something seems too good to be true, it likely is.”

NW3C Director Donald Brackman said the report's findings underscore the threat posed by cyber criminals. “The figures contained in this report indicate that criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet. They are also developing increasingly sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting consumers. Internet crime is evolving in ways we couldn't have imagined just five years ago.” But Brackman sounded an optimistic tone about the future. “With the public’s continued support, law enforcement will be better able to track down these perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

The report is posted in its entirety on the IC3 website.

About IC3
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a joint operation between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). IC3 receives, develops, and refers criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism utilized to alert authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, the IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet-related crimes.

The entire report can be read here: http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2 ... Report.pdf

Article about IC3 Report on NPR website by the Associated Press:


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =124621522

Internet Fraud Losses Doubled Last Year
by The Associated Press

WASHINGTON March 12, 2010, 03:23 pm ET The cost of Internet fraud doubled in 2009 to about $560 million, the FBI said Friday. The most common type of frauds reported were scams from people falsely claiming to be from the FBI.

Individual complaints of Internet scams grew more than 20 percent last year, according to a report issued by the FBI in partnership with a private fraud-fighting group, the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

The amounts taken by individual frauds ranged from less than $30 to more than $100,000, officials said.

The most frequently reported scams were those that falsely used the FBI's name, accounting for 16 percent of the more than 300,000 complaints received last year. Some of those frauds have even featured e-mails purporting to be from FBI Director Robert Mueller, though the e-mail addresses of the senders often betray the con, authorities said.

Peter Trahon, head of the FBI's cyber division, said people should evaluate the e-mail pitches they receive "with a healthy skepticism — if something seems to good to be true, it likely is."

For example, one popular scam last year involved a phone pitch made by someone who sounded a lot like President Barack Obama.

The recorded message told people to visit a Web site to get government stimulus money. When victims who visited the site entered personal information and paid $28 in fees, they were promised a big stimulus check, but got nothing.