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Fraud Information
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a joint venture between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), there were 289,874 complaints that were reported to the IC3 in 2012 [1]. Of this amount, nearly 40% (114,908) of them involved a financial loss. While it is difficult to accurately calculate losses due to fraud, it is estimated that the amount exceeded upwards of $525 Million in 2012. This represented an 8.3% increase in reported losses since 2011. In conjunction, companies fared much worse with an estimated $3.5 Billion in total revenue losses as a result of online fraud [2].
With constantly improving advances in technology and the ubiquitous access to the internet, the vast benefits and conveniences that the internet allows, it is also this very medium by which fraudsters are able to conduct illicit activities such as online fraud, identity theft and cyber terrorist activities. Fraudsters do not discriminate when it comes to their victims and they will continue to target individuals and companies, regardless of age, gender, education, income level and geographic location.
Online fraud, particularly identity theft, not only results in potential financial losses, but also may involve an extended, complicated process to resolve the matter leading to a great degree of distress. With individuals and companies, such as financial institutions doing the best they can to identify and combat online fraud and identity theft, fraudsters have resorted to using more sophisticated techniques to accomplish their schemes. Being aware of common schemes and educated about online fraud and scams is the best defense to prevent yourself from becoming a victim.
Common fraud trends are posted on the websites below as a public service in a continuing effort to educate the general public on constantly evolving cyber scams and crime.
IC3 Website-www.ic3.gov
FBI Website-(http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/internet_fraud).
Department of Justice- www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html
1-2012 IC3 Annual Report http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2012_IC3Report.pdf
2-Cybersource 2013 Online Fraud Report
