iC3 Annual Report on Internet Crime Shows Total Dollar Loss More Than Doubles!

Executive Summary (partial)

The Web is No Longer Safe for Internet Transactions

Unless they are Conducted "OUTSIDE" the Browser

From January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Web site received 336,655 complaint submissions. This was a 22.3% increase as compared to 2008 when 275,284 complaints were received.



Of the 336,655 complaints submitted to IC3, 146,663 were referred to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies around the country for further consideration. The vast majority of referred cases contained elements of fraud and involved a financial loss by the complainant.



Total Dollar Loss More than Doubles Last Year



The total dollar loss from all referred cases was $559.7 million with a median dollar loss of $575. This is up from $264.6 million in total reported losses in 2008.   (see chart below) 



Unreferred submissions generally involved complaints in which there was no documented harm or loss (e.g., a complainant received a fraudulent solicitation email but did not act upon it) or complaints where neither the complainant nor perpetrator resided within the United States (i.e., there was not an appropriate domestic law enforcement agency for direct referral).



Click Here for an Interesting Read

Remember the Good Ole' Days (2001) when it was okay to type your number into a box in a browser?