Think you can’t be a victim of a cybercrime? Think cybercrimes are only related to Account Takeovers, data breaches, or financial loss? Think again – cybercrimes happen every day, and most people don’t know their rights or how to report these crimes. Additionally, you don’t have to suffer a financial loss to be a victim. Someone using your credentials to view your personal email is a cybercrime; someone taking over your social media profile is a cybercrime; someone impersonating a popular chain store claiming you won a $5,000 gift card is a cybercrime. The term “cybercrime” covers a lot of territory.
The most widely adopted definition of cybercrime encompasses two broad areas:
1. The illegal use of computers and the internet.
2. Crimes committed by means of computers or the internet.
In September 2012, Norton released findings of its annual Norton Cybercrime Report one of the world’s largest consumer cybercrime studies. “The study is aimed at understanding how cybercrime affects consumers, and how the adoption and evolution of new technologies impacts people’s security.” The report found that every second, 18 adults become a victim of cybercrime, resulting in more than one-and-a-half million cybercrime victims each day on a global level with losses totaling an average of $197 per victim (consumer-level). The report concludes that approximately 46% of online adults have been victims of cybercrime in the past twelve months.
Other interesting facts of the report found that 1 in 5 online adults (21%) has been a victim of either social or mobile cybercrime, and 39% of social network users have been victims of social cybercrime.
So now that we all recognize that cybercrimes extend well beyond what we may have originally thought, what can you do?
Reporting these frauds depends on circumstances, but in the USA cybercrimes fall under 18 USC § 1030 - Fraud and related activity in connection with computers Code Here
The Department of Justice website provides a Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section with a contact page for reporting incidents to local, state or Federal Law Enforcement Agencies.
Most severe crimes fall to two Federal Law Enforcement Agencies to investigate: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and The United States Secret Service (USSS).
Consumers are encouraged to at least report incidents to The Internet Crime Complaint Center. IC3 accepts
online Internet crime complaints from either the actual victim or from a
third-party to the complainant and forwards to the appropriate Agency. Additionally,
IC3 provides helpful information for all computer users.
Reporting
these frauds, even if you don’t fall for them, helps Law Enforcement understand
the scope of fraud in circulation, and notify the appropriate parties who can
help shut down fraudulent sites and email addresses.
Let's work together to shut those sites down and fight back against cybercrimes!
#CyberCrime #fraud