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?

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?

FBI: Online Fraud Losses in 2009 More than Double 2008 Losses

IC3 2009 Annual Report on Internet Crime Released 

For Immediate Release March 12, 2010



Online Fraud Losses go from $265 Million in 20008 to $560 Million in 2009



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.

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.



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 millio

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