Source : http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/662555/types_of_cyber_crimes__pg4.html?cat=15 Cyber crime is one of the latest types of serious crime.

Definitions of cyber crime are hard to define because they can vary from jurisdictions and they vary because there is no agreement on specific terms on what is a cyber crime; although, cyber crime can be defined as stated by the book, "Introduction to Criminal Justice", is any illegal behavior that targets the security of computer systems and/or the data accessed and processed by computer networks. When talking about cyber crime being serious, it's the truth. Cyber crime is the second newest crime challenge in the justice system and it's also the hardest to define by law, detect, and punish. Why is cyber crime such a big deal? Information technology, also known as "IT" is becoming the major way on how businesses run their business. For example: Emails could be sent to companies saying they need a lot of a certain item ordered and shipped. The cyber criminals could give false paying information and the company could lose all that money. Also, hackers could hack into a businesses computer data and get into the information and delete very important information such as client lists and banking information. They could then have access to people's accounts as well as the business and a lot of money can be stolen. Cyber crime is also one of the most complicated crimes there are. Cyber criminals can commit their cries efficiently because they are hard to locate. They could be anywhere in the world. They are also anonymous. There could be just one criminal or a group of criminals. There are a lot of cyber crimes, ways to punish them, and way to prevent them. What are types of cyber crimes? There are many different types of cyber crimes. There are a few that really stand out, though. There are also a lot of cyber crimes that aren't even classified, yet. There are three types of cyber crimes: General approach, ie, cyber trespass. Crimes are that committed with computer, ie, cyberstalking. Crimes that target computers, ie, cybervandalism. General Approach of Cyber Crimes Cyber Trespass: it is information that exists in "books" but is manipulated by hackers. It is the invasion of private space on the internet bay a hacker. There are four levels of cyber trespass: Deliberate planting of viruses, deliberate manipulation of data, cyber spy-getting into computer system to retrieve information. Cyber terrorist-deny service, can bring down businesses. Example of cyber trespass: embezzlement, fraud, and theft. Crime Committed With a Computer Cyberextortion/cyberemail: occurs when a hacker gets into a companies information files and finds something illegal, immoral, or embarrassing, ad tells company if they don't give them something for free they will turn them in (black mail). Cyberstalking: is where individuals meet and talk and it goes to extreme. The stalker tries to get too much information and gets upset if they are not constantly talking to the victim. Cyber stalking USUALLY only remains virtual but can become "Real" often cyber stalkers convince other individuals to meet in person or finds out addresses and the stalkers start to actually physically stalk the victim. Cyberspoofing: a cyber criminal that steals identity or makes up false identity to commit crimes. In cyberspoofing, a criminal sends emails from another persons email. They make up fake websites to steal credit card numbers. Another type of cyber spoofing is called "phising". Phising is involved where fake emails are sent out and is meant to obtain credit card information, passwords, and so on. This is a well known practice associated with the popular website, "Myspace". Identity Theft: Thieves use cyber spoofing to steal identity then in return use the victim's information and passes it as themselves. They steal money out of personal banking accounts and run up credit card bills. There are places now that if identity theft did, in fact, occur and can be proven, the institution will not hold the victim responsible for bills. This has happened to a lot of individuals as it's quite easy to obtain information, especially if a site is not secured.

 Cybergerm welfare: is when cyber criminals use viruses. Viruses can be used in any cyber crime that the criminal commits but the act of using it is called cybergerm welfare. Cyber vandalism: is when cyber criminals completely destroy a website from functioning. The website is either totally damaged or is damaged to the point of no longer being able to serve its purpose. What are some ways to punish these cyber criminals? As mentioned before it is hard to punish cyber crimes as the underlying issues fit in a number of areas or in no areas at all. If a criminal is caught they are held responsible for the highest amount of criminal justification. Some types of crimes the cyber crimes can be held under are: theft, assault, robbery, things of that degree. They are usually given fines and are required to pay back money or to pay back money done in damages. It is had to punish criminals but there are a lot of new different laws made to help punish and prevent cyber crimes to keep occurring. One of the problems of cyber criminals not being punished is that not enough people report cyber laws. The victims may not realize an offense occurred on the behalf of them or the victims think that the crimes are not serious enough or don't know who to report them or just think it's not worth it since cyber laws are hard to prove. The government section FBI is working hard to catch computer criminals. They have CATS (cyber action teams), they are trained FBI agents and computer geniuses who travel all around the world to stop fast moving cyber crimes, such as viruses, identity theft and so on. The FBI also has some special sanctions just for cyber crime. Computer Crimes Task Force: They pose undercover, take calls, break calls and passwords. Internet Crime Complaint Center: also known as IC3, it is in West Virginia, it's a hotline where people can call and report internet scams. Those are examples of the sanctions. In conclusion, cyber crime is a very serious, rapidly developing type of criminal act. They are so easy to do, yet, hard to detect and punish. As our country, our world, begins to depend on Information Technology more and more. Cyber crimes can and will become more of a problem. These cyber criminals don't realize that they are also hurting themselves in return. These kinds of crimes in the long run can hurt the economy. These crimes also make you second guess using online shopping and any other kind of information sharing. It makes you want to go back to paper and pencil so to speak. But IT is so advanced and it helps the world run easier and is more convenient. Our justice system is wonderful and they will come up with solutions to these horrible cyber crimes. When you're online be careful who you talk to, who you share personal information with, make sure web sites are secured, and be wary of things that seem odd to you. Follow those tips and you should stay safe. Cyber crimes are serious but our government will solve these problems. Bibliography Books: Siegal, Larry J. and Senna, Joseph J. Introduction to Criminal Justice, eleventh edition. Canada: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Brown, Gordon W. and Sukys, Paul A. Business Law,, eleventh edition. New York: McGraw - Hill/Irwin, 2006. Encyclopedia: "Computer Offense". Encyclopedia of Criminology. Volume 1. New York, Routledge, 2005.

Internet: http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm. FBI, March 2, 2008. Person: Jones, April M. Movie Clerk/Identity Theft victim. March 1, 2008.

Source: http://www.crime.hku.hk/cybercrime.htm

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY

9 TYPES OF CYBER CRIME 1. THEFT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES The "phone phreakers" of three decades ago set a precedent for what has become a major criminal industry. By gaining access to an organisation's telephone switchboard (PBX) individuals or criminal organisations can obtain access to dial-in/dial-out circuits and then make their own calls or sell call time to third parties (Gold 1999). Offenders may gain access to the switchboard by impersonating a technician, by fraudulently obtaining an employee's access code, or by using software available on the internet. Some sophisticated offenders loop between PBX systems to evade detection. Additional forms of service theft include capturing "calling card" details and on-selling calls charged to the calling card account, and counterfeiting or illicit reprogramming of stored value telephone cards. It has been suggested that as long ago as 1990, security failures at one major telecommunications carrier cost approximately 290 million, and that more recently, up to 5% of total industry turnover has been lost to fraud (Schieck 1995: 2-5; Newman 1998). Costs to individual subscribers can also be significant In one case, computer hackers in the United States illegally obtained access to Scotland Yard's telephone network and made 620,000 worth of international calls for which Scotland Yard was responsible (Tendler and Nuttall 1996). 2. COMMUNICATIONS IN FURTHERANCE OF CRIMINAL CONSPIRACIES Just as legitimate organisations in the private and public sectors rely upon information systems for communications and record keeping, so too are the activities of criminal organisations enhanced by technology. There is evidence of telecommunications equipment being used to facilitate organised drug trafficking, gambling, prostitution, money laundering, child pornography and trade in weapons (in those jurisdictions where such activities are illegal). The use of encryption technology may place criminal communications beyond the reach of law enforcement. The use of computer networks to produce and distribute child pornography has become the subject of increasing attention. Today, these materials can be imported across national borders at the speed of light (Grant, David and Grabosky 1997). The more overt manifestations of internet child pornography entail a modest degree of organisation, as required by the infrastructure of IRC and WWW, but the activity appears largely confined to individuals. By contrast, some of the less publicly visible traffic in child pornography activity appears to entail a greater degree of organisation. Although knowledge is confined to that conduct which

has been the target of successful police investigation, there appear to have been a number of networks which extend cross-nationally, use sophisticated technologies of concealment, and entail a significant degree of coordination. Illustrative of such activity was the Wonderland Club, an international network with members in at least 14 nations ranging from Europe, to North America, to Australia. Access to the group was password protected, and content was encrypted. Police investigation of the activity, codenamed "Operation Cathedral" resulted in approximately 100 arrests around the world, and the seizure of over 100,000 images in September, 1998. 3. TELECOMMUNICATIONS PIRACY Digital technology permits perfect reproduction and easy dissemination of print, graphics, sound, and multimedia combinations. The temptation to reproduce copyrighted material for personal use, for sale at a lower price, or indeed, for free distribution, has proven irresistable to many. This has caused considerable concern to owners of copyrighted material. Each year, it has been estimated that losses of between US$15 and US$17 billion are sustained by industry by reason of copyright infringement (United States, Information Infrastructure Task Force 1995, 131). The Software Publishers Association has estimated that $7.4 billion worth of software was lost to piracy in 1993 with $2 billion of that being stolen from the Internet (Meyer and Underwood 1994). Ryan (1998) puts the cost of foreign piracy to American industry at more than $10 billion in 1996, including $1.8 billion in the film industry, $1.2 billion in music, $3.8 billion in business application software, and $690 million in book publishing. According to the Straits Times (8/11/99) A copy of the most recent James Bond Film The World is Not Enough, was available free on the internet before its official release. When creators of a work, in whatever medium, are unable to profit from their creations, there can be a chilling effect on creative effort generally, in addition to financial loss. 4. DISSEMINATION OF OFFENSIVE MATERIALS Content considered by some to be objectionable exists in abundance in cyberspace. This includes, among much else, sexually explicit materials, racist propaganda, and instructions for the fabrication of incendiary and explosive devices. Telecommunications systems can also be used for harassing, threatening or intrusive communications, from the traditional obscene telephone call to its contemporary manifestation in "cyber-stalking", in which persistent messages are sent to an unwilling recipient. One man allegedly stole nude photographs of his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend and posted them on the Internet, along with her name, address and telephone number. The unfortunate couple, residents of Kenosha, Wisconsin, received phone calls and e-mails from

strangers as far away as Denmark who said they had seen the photos on the Internet. Investigations also revealed that the suspect was maintaining records about the woman's movements and compiling information about her family (Spice and Sink 1999). In another case a rejected suitor posted invitations on the Internet under the name of a 28-yearold woman, the would-be object of his affections, that said that she had fantasies of rape and gang rape. He then communicated via email with men who replied to the solicitations and gave out personal information about the woman, including her address, phone number, details of her physical appearance and how to bypass her home security system. Strange men turned up at her home on six different occasions and she received many obscene phone calls. While the woman was not physically assaulted, she would not answer the phone, was afraid to leave her home, and lost her job (Miller 1999; Miller and Maharaj 1999). One former university student in California used email to harass 5 female students in 1998. He bought information on the Internet about the women using a professor's credit card and then sent 100 messages including death threats, graphic sexual descriptions and references to their daily activities. He apparently made the threats in response to perceived teasing about his appearance (Associated Press 1999a). Computer networks may also be used in furtherance of extortion. The Sunday Times (London) reported in 1996 that over 40 financial institutions in Britain and the United States had been attacked electronically over the previous three years. In England, financial institutions were reported to have paid significant amounts to sophisticated computer criminals who threatened to wipe out computer systems. (The Sunday Times, June 2, 1996). The article cited four incidents between 1993 and 1995 in which a total of 42.5 million Pounds Sterling were paid by senior executives of the organisations concerned, who were convinced of the extortionists' capacity to crash their computer systems (Denning 1999 233-4). 5. ELECTRONIC MONEY LAUNDERING AND TAX EVASION For some time now, electronic funds transfers have assisted in concealing and in moving the proceeds of crime. Emerging technologies will greatly assist in concealing the origin of ill-gotten gains. Legitimately derived income may also be more easily concealed from taxation authorities. Large financial institutions will no longer be the only ones with the ability to achieve electronic funds transfers transiting numerous jurisdictions at the speed of light. The development of informal banking institutions and parallel banking systems may permit central bank supervision to be bypassed, but can also facilitate the evasion of cash transaction reporting requirements in those nations which have them. Traditional underground banks, which have flourished in Asian countries for centuries, will enjoy even greater capacity through the use of telecommunications. With the emergence and proliferation of various technologies of electronic commerce, one can easily envisage how traditional countermeasures against money laundering and tax evasion may soon be of limited value. I may soon be able to sell you a quantity of heroin, in return for an untraceable transfer of stored value to my "smart-card", which I then download anonymously to my account in a financial institution situated in an overseas jurisdiction which protects the

privacy of banking clients. I can discreetly draw upon these funds as and when I may require, downloading them back to my stored value card (Wahlert 1996). 6. ELECTRONIC VANDALISM, TERRORISM AND EXTORTION As never before, western industrial society is dependent upon complex data processing and telecommunications systems. Damage to, or interference with, any of these systems can lead to catastrophic consequences. Whether motivated by curiosity or vindictiveness electronic intruders cause inconvenience at best, and have the potential for inflicting massive harm (Hundley and Anderson 1995, Schwartau 1994). While this potential has yet to be realised, a number of individuals and protest groups have hacked the official web pages of various governmental and commercial organisations (Rathmell 1997). http://www.2600.com/hacked_pages/ (visited 4 January 2000). This may also operate in reverse: early in 1999 an organised hacking incident was apparently directed at a server which hosted the Internet domain for East Timor, which at the time was seeking its independence from Indonesia (Creed 1999). Defence planners around the world are investing substantially in information warfare-- means of disrupting the information technology infrastructure of defence systems (Stix 1995). Attempts were made to disrupt the computer systems of the Sri Lankan Government (Associated Press 1998), and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during the 1999 bombing of Belgrade (BBC 1999). One case, which illustrates the transnational reach of extortionists, involved a number of German hackers who compromised the system of an Internet service provider in South Florida, disabling eight of the ISPs ten servers. The offenders obtained personal information and credit card details of 10,000 subscribers, and, communicating via electronic mail through one of the compromised accounts, demanded that US$30,000 be delivered to a mail drop in Germany. Co-operation between US and German authorities resulted in the arrest of the extortionists (Bauer 1998). More recently, an extortionist in Eastern Europe obtained the credit card details of customers of a North American based on-line music retailer, and published some on the Internet when the retailer refused to comply with his demands (Markoff 2000). 7. SALES AND INVESTMENT FRAUD As electronic commerce becomes more prevalent, the application of digital technology to fraudulent endeavours will be that much greater. The use of the telephone for fraudulent sales pitches, deceptive charitable solicitations, or bogus investment overtures is increasingly common. Cyberspace now abounds with a wide variety of investment opportunities, from traditional securities such as stocks and bonds, to more exotic opportunities such as coconut farming, the sale and leaseback of automatic teller machines, and worldwide telephone lotteries (Cella and Stark 1997 837-844). Indeed, the digital age has been accompanied by unprecedented opportunities for misinformation. Fraudsters now enjoy direct access to millions of prospective victims around the world, instantaneously and at minimal cost.

Classic pyramid schemes and "Exciting, Low-Risk Investment Opportunities" are not uncommon. The technology of the World Wide Web is ideally suited to investment solicitations. In the words of two SEC staff "At very little cost, and from the privacy of a basement office or living room, the fraudster can produce a home page that looks better and more sophisticated than that of a Fortune 500 company" (Cella and Stark 1997, 822). 8. ILLEGAL INTERCEPTION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS Developments in telecommunications provide new opportunities for electronic eavesdropping. From activities as time-honoured as surveillance of an unfaithful spouse, to the newest forms of political and industrial espionage, telecommunications interception has increasing applications. Here again, technological developments create new vulnerabilities. The electromagnetic signals emitted by a computer may themselves be intercepted. Cables may act as broadcast antennas. Existing law does not prevent the remote monitoring of computer radiation. It has been reported that the notorious American hacker Kevin Poulsen was able to gain access to law enforcement and national security wiretap data prior to his arrest in 1991 (Littman 1997). In 1995, hackers employed by a criminal organisation attacked the communications system of the Amsterdam Police. The hackers succeeded in gaining police operational intelligence, and in disrupting police communications (Rathmell 1997). 9. ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER FRAUD Electronic funds transfer systems have begun to proliferate, and so has the risk that such transactions may be intercepted and diverted. Valid credit card numbers can be intercepted electronically, as well as physically; the digital information stored on a card can be counterfeited. Of course, we don't need Willie Sutton to remind us that banks are where they keep the money. In 1994, a Russian hacker Vladimir Levin, operating from St Petersburg, accessed the computers of Citibank's central wire transfer department, and transferred funds from large corporate accounts to other accounts which had been opened by his accomplices in The United States, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and Israel. Officials from one of the corporate victims, located in Argentina, notified the bank, and the suspect accounts, located in San Francisco, were frozen. The accomplice was arrested. Another accomplice was caught attempting to withdraw funds from an account in Rotterdam. Although Russian law precluded Levin's extradition, he was arrested during a visit to the United States and subsequently imprisoned. (Denning 1999, 55). The above forms of computer-related crime are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and need not occur in isolation. Just as an armed robber might steal an automobile to facilitate a quick getaway, so too can one steal telecommunications services and use them for purposes of vandalism, fraud, or in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy.1 Computer-related crime may be compound in nature, combining two or more of the generic forms outlined above. The various activities of Kevin Mitnick, as described in Hafner and Markoff (1991) are illustrative.

Problem areas Telecommunications Electronic vandalism, terrorism and extortion Stealing telecommunications services Telecommunications piracy Pornography and other offensive material Telemarketing fraud Electronic fund transfer crime Electronic money laundering Legal areas Here are just a few rhetorical questions about the law relating to search and seizure of electronic evidence. These were formulated in October 1998 at a special expert working group meeting convened in Tokyo under the auspices of the United Nations and with the involvement of the Australian Institute of Criminology. (a) Investigative issues (i) Does the law distinguish between the search and seizure of stored data in a computer, and the interception of data that is being communicated from one computer to another or within a computer system? (ii) Can a person voluntarily provide law enforcement agents with electronic data that may afford evidence of a crime? Can a person voluntarily permit law enforcement agents to undertake a search for such data, rather than provide it to them? Could continuing cooperation of this nature by a person with law enforcement have a legal effect on the ability of law enforcement to obtain or use the data? (iii) In most jurisdictions, the ability of law enforcement to obtain data that may afford evidence usually requires some form of prior judicial approval. What legal authority is required for obtaining electronic stored data without the consent of the persons concerned? (iv) Electronic data under most jurisdictions is considered as being intangible. The law of some jurisdictions may only permit seizure of tangible material. In such cases, intangible data can only be obtained by seizing the physical medium (e.g., data on diskette or other storage medium) on which the data is stored and found. Do your nation's laws provide for the seizure of intangible data without seizure of the physical medium which it is found?

(v) In some cases, the precise location of electronic data within a computer system may not be apparent. How specific must be the description in the judicial authority (e.g., search warrant) of the place to be searched or the data to be seized? (vi) In most jurisdictions, the scope of a warrant should be as narrow as possible. The precise location of the electronic data may not be immediately apparent at the time a warrant is sought, or even when law enforcement agents arrive at the scene. Does the law provide guidance on whether to seize the entire computer system, or merely one or more of its components? What practical criteria do law enforcement use to make this decision? How would this be done in practice? (vii) Does your law obligate a suspect or a third person to provide access (including passwords) to a computer system that is the target of a lawful search? If not, what practical measures or tools can be employed by law enforcement to gain access? (viii) Seizure of, or during the course of a search the shutting down of, an entire computer system may be extremely intrusive, and particularly burdensome to an ongoing business. What practical circumstances would justify seizing or shutting down a complete system rather than merely taking a copy of the data? Does the law provide for copying of relevant data as an alternative to seizure, and can the copy be regarded as admissible evidence? Would the law permit the seizure of the entire data base for the purpose of subsequently identifying the relevant data? What practical means can be used to copy large volumes of data? (ix) In the course of a search, law enforcement authorities may come across incriminating data related to the crime under investigation, but which was not originally specified within the scope of the warrant. Can this data be legally seized without obtaining another warrant? (x) In the course of a search, law enforcement authorities may come across electronic data relating to a crime different from that which is under the current investigation. Can this data be legally seized without obtaining another warrant? (xi) Does the law permit seizure of data, without a warrant, under exigent circumstances, such as when there is risk of erasure or destruction of data? Alternatively, are law enforcement agents able to secure the premises or computer system, pending the obtaining of a warrant? (xii) In some cases, the data sought may be located on another computer system that is networked to the system currently being searched. Does the law permit an extension of the search into the connected system in order to search and seize relevant data within the scope of the warrant? Can the warrant include an authorization to extend the search to the connected system? Alternatively, can law enforcement obtain a second warrant to extend the search from one system to the other? (xiii) Are there any circumstances under which the law permits stored data to be obtained by means of a judicial order to deliver such data to law enforcement authorities, as opposed to the law enforcement authorities themselves searching and seizing it?

(b) Stored transaction data (i) Records of service use, also known as transaction data, may be kept by some telecommunication carriers and internet service providers. Some carriers or ISPs may, for business or security purposes, retain such data for a period of time. In some jurisdictions, the cooperation of Internet service providers (ISPs) in identifying suspects may be obtained informally. Can this data be voluntarily provided to law enforcement agents by carriers and service providers? Does the law provide a means by which this data can be compulsorily obtained by law enforcement authorities? (ii) Which types of transaction data does law enforcement require? Which types of transaction data do telecommunications carriers retain? For how long do the carriers or ISPs retain such data? Are there any laws or regulations which require them to retain such data, or to dispose of it after a certain period of time? (c) Electronic communications (i) Does the law permit law enforcement to collect current or future transaction data (including the source or destination of communications)? Can this authority for collection of current and future transaction data be achieved by satisfying legal conditions less onerous than that required to intercept the content of communications? What practical or technological means can be used to collect such data? Does law enforcement have the capability to undertake such techniques? (ii) Even when one is able to determine the location from which a communication originates, identifying the human source of the communication may prove to be challenging. What legal and/or technological tools are available for this purpose? (iii) How is the ability to collect such current or future transaction data affected if the communication crosses jurisdictional borders, including international borders? (iv) Does the law permit interception of communications for the purpose of obtaining their content? Does the law permit this interception in respect of communications between computer systems or their components, as well as between persons? Does law enforcement have the practical capability to undertake such investigative techniques? (v) In some cases, search or interception may be more efficiently and more effectively carried out by representatives of the telecommunications or ISP industry rather than law enforcement personnel. Does the law provide authority or obligation for private organizations or individuals to engage or assist in interception or search on behalf of the state? How does this affect the admissibility of the data as evidence in judicial proceedings? If there is no such authority or obligation, are there trained law enforcement personnel to undertake this task, and how would they do so? (d) Analysis of data

(i) What legal, practical or technical means are available to preserve the data seized or intercepted in order to ensure its presentation and admissibility in judicial proceedings? What procedures should be followed? (ii) If the data seized are encrypted, what legal, practical or technical means are available to allow law enforcement to decrypt data? Does law enforcement have legal authority to decrypt seized data using technical means? Can an order be sought from a judicial authority to compel decryption by the suspect or a third person? Can an order be sought to compel a suspect or a third person to hand over the encryption key or algorithm to law enforcement? (e) Human rights and privacy safeguards (i) Can a person to whom compulsory measures are applied, as above, challenge the lawfulness of such measures before a court, either before or after execution? (ii) What legal protections exist for law enforcement agents who are undertaking a coercive investigative measure such as a search and seizure, or interception? (iii) Which types of remedies may be ordered by a judicial authority? (iv) How would such remedies be obtained or enforced in the context of a trans-border search? (v) To what extent would legal protections or immunities apply to law enforcement from another country who are undertaking a trans-border search in your country?

Crime in the Digital Age by Peter Grabosky and Russell Smith, Sydney: Federation Press, 1998 (co-published with the Australian Innstitute of Criminology). See the AIC website http://www.aic.gov.au for other publications and papers on cyber crime.

FBI 2009 Cybercrime Statistics

March 13, 2010 Scrub Leave a comment Go to comments The Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] in collaboration with the Internet Crime Complaint Center [ic3.gov] have again published its annual report that shows cybercrime continue to be on the increase. The Executive Summary is listed below and the complete Report can be read at Internet Crime Complaint Center website

Executive Summary

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. 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. 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). Complaints received by IC3 cover many different fraud and non-fraud categories, including auction fraud, non-delivery of merchandise, credit card fraud, computer intrusions, spam/unsolicited email, and child pornography. All of these complaints are accessible to local, state, and federal law enforcement to support active investigations, trend analysis, and public outreach and awareness efforts. On January 1, 2009, IC3 implemented a new complaint classification system based on a redesigned questionnaire that generates an automatic classification of the complaint into one of 79 offense-based categories. This redesign also resulted in a number of changes to the way the system gathers and classifies complaint data. Further information about these changes can be found in Appendix I of this report. Significant findings related to an analysis of the complaint data include:

Email scams that used the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) name (schemes in which the scammer pretended to be affiliated with the FBI in an effort to gain

information from the target) represented 16.6% of all complaints submitted to IC3. Nondelivered merchandise and/or payment (in which either a seller did not ship the promised item or a buyer did not pay for an item) accounted for 11.9% of complaints. Advance fee fraud (a scam wherein the target is asked to give money upfront- often times- for some reward that never materializes) made up 9.8% of complaints. Identity theft and overpayment fraud (scams in which the target is given a fraudulent monetary instrument in excess of the agreed-upon amount for the transaction, and asked to send back the overpayment using a legitimate monetary instrument) round out the top five categories of all complaints submitted to IC3 during the year. Of the top five categories of offenses reported to law enforcement during 2009, nondelivered merchandise and/or payment ranked 19.9%; identity thieft, 14.1%; credit card fraud, 10.4%; auction fraud, 10.3%; and computer fraud (destruction/damage/vandalism of property), 7.9%. Of the complaints involving financial harm that were referred to law enforcement, the highest median dollar losses were found among investment fraud ($3,200), overpayment fraud ($2,500), and advance fee fraud ($1,500) complainants. In those complaints in which perpetrator information is provided, 76.6% were male and half resided in one of the following states: California, Florida, New York, the District of Columbia, Texas, and Washington. The majority of reported perpetrators (65.4%) were from the United States. A number of perpetrators were also in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Canada, Malaysia, and Ghana. Among complainants, 54% were male, nearly two-thirds were between the ages of 30 and 50, and a little over one- third resided in one of the following states: California, Florida, Texas, or New York. The majority of complainants were from the United States (92%). However, IC3 received a number of complaints originating in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Puerto Rico. Male complainants lost more money than female complainants (ratio of $1.51 lost per male to every $1.00 lost per female). Individuals 40-49 years of age reported, on average, higher amounts of loss than other age groups. In addition to FBI scams, popular scam trends for 2009 included hitman scams, astrological reading frauds, economic scams, job site scams, and fake pop-up ads for antivirus software.

The 10 Most Common Complaints 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. FBI Scam Non-Delivery Merchandise Payment Advance Fee Fraud Identity Theft Overpayment Fraud Miscellaneous Scam & Fraud Credit Card Fraud Auction Computer

Statistics & Graphs

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FBI 2010 Cybercrime Statistics

Executive Summary

Now in its tenth year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

has become a vital resource for victims of online crime and for law enforcement investigating and prosecuting offenders. In 2010, IC3 received the second-highest number of complaints since its lnception. IC3 also reached a major milestone this year when it received its two-millionth complaint. On average, IC3 receives and processes 25,000 complaints per month. IC3 is more than a repository for victim complaints. It serves as a conduit for law enforcement to share information and pursue cases that often span jurisdictional boundaries. IC3 was founded in 2000 as a joint effort between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C)/Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). That partnership leveraged the resources necessary to aid law enforcement in every aspect of an Internet fraud complaint. The most common victim complaints in 2010 were non-delivery of payment/merchandise, scams impersonating the FBI (hereafter FBI-related scams) and identity theft. Victims of these crimes reported losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Through a number of technological advancements, IC3 has streamlined the way it processes and refers victim complaints to law enforcement. In 2004, IC3 developed Automatch, an automated internal complaint grouping and analytical search tool. The design of Automatch is based on an assessment of the IC3 partnership aimed at defining a joint workflow for the project partners with different service requirements. IC3 IT staff continually review and update Automatch to meet the needs of analysts who build cases for law enforcement worldwide gathering all related information based on commonalities in the IC3 data. In 2009, NW3C developed the state-of-the-art Internet Complaint Search and Investigation System (ICSIS), which fosters seamless collaboration among law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions. Expert IC3 analysts also provide key analytical and case support. The 2010 Internet Crime Report demonstrates how pervasive online crime has become, affecting people in all demographic groups. The report provides specific details about various crimes, their victims and the perpetrators. It also shows how IC3 continually adapts its methods to meet the needs of the public and law enforcement.

Type Percent 1. Non-delivery Payment/Merchandise 14.4% 2. FBI-Related Scams 13.2% 3. Identity Theft 9.8% 4. Computer Crimes 9.1% 5. Miscellaneous Fraud 8.6% 6. Advance Fee Fraud 7.6% 7. Spam 6.9% 8. Auction Fraud 5.9% 9. Credit Card Fraud 5.3% 10. Overpayment Fraud 5.3%

Source: 2010_IC3Report

How Fast Is Cyber Crime Growing?

Written by: R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen Edited by: Bill Fulks Published Aug 23, 2010 Related Guides: Cyber Crime | Web A look at how electronic crime impacts people and economies. Any crime committed via the internet is a cyber crime. Most cyber crimes cannot be placed into a single category, thus making cyber crime statistics difficult to compile. The Internet Crime Complaint Center compiles and releases annual reports on the statistics and cyber crime facts. Both the statistics and facts are used to analyze and examine cyber crime growth. Knowing the facts, growth, and trends is essential to fighting cyber crime and creating the tools and techniques necessary to prevent it.
Top 10 Cyber Crime Complaint Categories

Upon analyzing cyber crime complaints, investigators determined the top ten cyber crimes based on the total number of complaints received.

click to enlarge These include (in order of most complaints to least complaints):

Non-delivery (paying for merchandise online, but not receiving it) Auction fraud Debit/credit card fraud Confidence fraud (also referred to as advance fee fraud, and includes crimes like the Nigerian letter scam) Computer fraud Check fraud Nigerian letter fraud Identity theft Financial institutions fraud Threats

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Average Monetary Loss Per Fraud Complaint

Part of compiling cyber crime facts is looking at the monetary loss involved. With fraud being the most commonly committed cyber crime,

click to enlarge looking at the average monetary loss gives us a glimpse into the significance of this type of crime. The average monetary loss per complaint:

Debit/credit card fraud: $223.00 Auction fraud: $610.00 Non-delivery (merchandise and payment): $800.00 Computer fraud: $1,000.00 Nigerian letter fraud: $1,650.00 Confidence fraud: $2,000.00 Check fraud: $3,000.00

Perpetrator Statistics and Facts

Through examining cyber crime growth, investigators found trends among perpetrators. They discovered that in 2008, 77.4 percent of those who committed cyber crimes were male. 50 percent lived in one of these states:

California District of Columbia Florida New York Texas Washington

66.1 percent of cyber criminals resided in the United States, however, a significant number of those criminals also resided in:

Canada China Nigeria South Africa United Kingdom

Complainant Statistics and Facts

Just as the perpetrators were analyzed, so were the complainants in order to try and find trends. The following cyber crime facts and trends were discovered among complainants:

55.4 percent of complainants were male. 92.4 percent of the complainants resided in the United States, but a number of complaints also came from Australia, Canada, France, India, and the United Kingdom. The two main modes of fraudulent contact were web pages (28.9 percent) and email (74 percent). Almost half of all complainants were between thirty and fifty years of age and one-third lived in one of the states in the US with the highest populations: California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Male complainants lost more money than female complainants with a ratio of males losing $1.69 to every $1.00 lost per female. It is thought that males lost more, and were victimized more often, due to the gender differences in online purchasing and by the type of fraudulent schemes.

Resources

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). Cyber Investigations. Retrieved on August 22, 2010 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation: http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/cyberhome.htm Consumer Fraud Reporting. (2009). Internet Fraud, Scam, and Crime Statistics. Retrieved on August 22, 2010 from Consumer Fraud Reporting: http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/internet_scam_statistics.htm

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