According to the FBI’s Internet Complaint Center, or IC3, losses that reportedly occurred because of internet crime totaled $1.3 billion in 2016. The top three kinds of crimes by reported loss were:

• BEC [business email compromise]
• Romance and confidence fraud
• Non-payment and non-delivery scams

Within the Internet Crime Report of 2016, the FBI’s cyber division indicates that there has been an increase in the following types of scams:

• Business email compromise, which is also referred to as CEO fraud or email account compromise
• Ransomware
• Tech support fraud
• Extortion

However, the Department of Justice believes that just 15 percent of internet-related crime is reported to authorities. In an effort to facilitate responses to such crimes, the FBI states it is continuing to have state and local police officers involved in solving internet-related crime and trained by FBI cyber task forces. The officers function as the principal case agents regarding internet criminal investigations. In addition, the FBI is urging individuals and businesses to come forward with reports of ransomware incidents in order to enable law enforcement to achieve a more thorough understanding of the current threat and its effect on U.S. victims.

If you are confronting allegations of internet crime, call the criminal defense attorneys at Brill Legal Group. While prosecutors are easily swayed by investigators and police officers, defense attorneys are frequently inexperienced in these kinds of cases. However, the attorneys at Brill Legal Group possess considerable experience devising defense strategies for internet crimes.