FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center Releases 2019 Report

The last calendar year saw both the highest number of complaints and the highest dollar losses reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), according to an annual report just published by the group. In the 2019 Internet Crime Report, the IC3 notes it received 467,361 complaints in 2019 and recorded more than $3.5 billion in losses to individual and business victims. The report describes some of the new tactics and techniques criminals deployed to carry out existing scams. While email is still a common entry point, frauds are also beginning on text messages – a crime called smishing – or even fake websites – a tactic called pharming. The report also discusses a shift it has observed in business email compromise (BEC) scams, noting that the IC3 has seen an increase in the number of BEC complaints related to the diversion of payroll funds. As it has previously emphasized, the IC3 can help stop fraudulent transactions, and even recover stolen funds, in cases where victims quickly reported the incident to the FBI. According to the report, the FBI successfully recovered more than $300 million for victims in 2019. Incidents can be reported to the IC3 via its website.