Richmond,
VA-The Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a partnership
between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and
the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), was recently
honored with the Excellence.Gov award. The Excellence.Gov
award is presented to federal government agencies that
demonstrate innovative electronic government initiatives.
Sponsored by the Industry Advisory Council, E-Gov, and
the Federal Chief Information Officers Council, the
award was presented to five government agencies during
the recent E-Gov E-Procurement Conference in Washington,
DC
A
panel of judges comprised of representatives from government
and industry selected 25 finalists from more than 125
entries based on the following criteria:
•
Extent of the project's impact
•
How the project saved resources or increased productivity
•
Project's ability to simplify and/or unify processes
•
Repeatability for other government agencies
The
Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) was singled out
for its progress on the fraud frontline and its efforts
in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Created
as a resource for law enforcement by law enforcement,
the IFCC provides a single point of contact for consumers
and businesses to file a fraud complaint and get the
information into the hands of proper enforcement authorities.
The number of complaints to the IFCC is rising rapidly.
From May 2000 to April 2001, the number of filings increased
by 64 percent. With the IFCC's recent role in collecting
terrorist tips for the FBI, the activity to its Web
site has soared and fraud complaints are expected to
show a dramatic increase.
"We
anticipate the number of complaints to rise from 1,000
a day, said Dennis M. Lormel, Section Chief, Financial
Crimes Section, Criminal Investigative Division of the
FBI. "We know more Internet crime is out there,
it's just a matter of victims knowing where to go to
report it and then actually reporting it." A data
trend report recapping victimization filings for 2001
is expected to be available in print and electronic
format in March.
Following
the events of September 11, 2001, the IFCC Web site
was designated as the single on-line portal for the
public to report terrorist information. The IFCC continues
to receive information. Since the IFCC was called on
by the U.S. Justice Department to act in this highly
specialized capacity, the IFCC Web site has performed
flawlessly collecting over 155,000 leads. "We are
proud of the IFCC's performance and grateful to both
the public and private sector organizations that have
supported us in this expanded mission," said Richard
Johnston, Director of the NW3C.
About
the NW3C
Funded
by a grant from the Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, the
NW3C is a non-profit organization that provides a national
support network for state and local law enforcement
agencies involved in the prevention, investigation,
and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime. More
information on the NW3C and its initiatives is available
at www.nw3c.org.
About the IFCC
The
IFCC is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center.
The IFCC Web site is located at www.ifccfbi.gov.
