Broadly, illegal activity involving a computer may be called a cybercrime. With the advent of the Internet, cybercrime has exploded – not surprising with over one billion people using the Internet worldwide. There is no shortage of potential targets, and victims and perpetrators can be separated by oceans.

The anonymity of the Internet allows for low costs and leaves few traces, and cybercriminals may be either solo operators or parts of larger schemes, possibly even affiliated with organized crime. Ironically, technology makes it easy to create fraudulent online material that looks identical to the Internet marketing Web pages of legitimate entities.

The increase in Internet activity has brought more prosecution. Because of the facelessness of those committing these crimes, it is easy for law enforcement investigators to use circumstantial to prosecute the wrong people.

Unified Law Enforcement Action

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a joint program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting law enforcement in its fight against “economic and high-tech crime.”

The IC3 is a clearinghouse for complaints of cybercrime and related civil law violations. Complaints filed with IC3 online are reviewed by analysts for forwarding to local, state, federal or international law enforcement, or civil agencies with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute potential cybercrimes.

Rising Rates

The IC3 released its 2009 report on cybercrime in March and the findings show an explosion of illegal online activity. For example, the number of complaints filed with IC3 in 2009 was up over 22 percent from 2008 numbers. Monetary loss connected to online fraud almost doubled to about $560 million compared with $265 million the year before.

Online criminal complaints increased substantially again last year, according to the report. The IC3 received 336,655 2009 complaints, a 22.3 percent increase from 2008. The total loss linked to online fraud in 2009 was $559.7 million, up from $265 million in 2008.

This growth has placed great pressure on law enforcement to “do something” about the problem. This usually means the police arrest more people and prosecutors prosecute more. The increased pressure on law enforcement can lead to a “rush to judgment,” such that false accusations are levied at innocent people. Continue reading →