For Immediate Release
April
23, 2001
|
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
|
Internet
Fraud Complaint Center: Role in Law Enforcement and Benefits
to Consumers
The Internet
Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a joint effort by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime
Center (NW3C), which serves as a clearinghouse for the receipt,
analysis, and dissemination of complaints concerning frauds
perpetrated via the Internet. Over the last few years, the
FBI has witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of the
Internet for criminal purposes. The Internet is a perfect
vehicle for locating potential victims and provides a measure
of anonymity for the fraudster. It is the FBI's belief that
a central repository to house Internet fraud complaints
was necessary for law enforcement to effectively address
this crime problem. While other agencies currently receive
Internet fraud-related complaints, the IFCC possesses the
additional capability to analyze the data to identify criminal
schemes and has a mechanism in place to make referrals to
the appropriate law enforcement or regulatory agency.
Consumer victims
of Internet fraud are often unsure of how or where to report
what they suspect was criminal conduct. The IFCC provides
a convenient and easy way to alert authorities of a suspected
criminal activity or civil violation. Victims of Internet
crime are able to go directly to the IFCC Web site (www.ifccfbi.gov)
to submit their complaint information, relieving considerable
frustration for the victim in trying to decide which law
enforcement agency should receive their complaint.
For law enforcement,
as well as regulatory agencies, the IFCC offers a central
repository for complaints related to Internet fraud, uses
the information to quantify fraud patterns, and provides
timely statistical data of current fraud trends. Typically,
law enforcement receives complaints in a piecemeal and fragmented
fashion, most not reaching a level to advance the complaint
to a formal investigation. IFCC's trained analysts search
for common threads and conduct detailed analytical studies
of related complaints, prior to dissemination to law enforcement.
Without the immediate technical investigatory steps taken
by IFCC personnel, it can become more difficult to identify
the location of a Web site or the origin of an E-mail. By
consolidating the complaint information, the IFCC is able
to address the larger scope of the Internet crime problem
and identify links and emerging fraud schemes.
The IFCC has
been contacted by several companies that conduct significant
business over the Internet in an effort to gain IFCC assistance
in investigating some major frauds. These companies have
reported millions of dollars in losses. The IFCC is in the
process of providing a business-friendly system for rapid
data transfer of multiple complaints in an effort to better
serve these crime victim-companies' needs. This will permit
Internet companies that are experiencing these losses to
file bulk complaints, and those complaints will then be
distributed by IFCC to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
During the start-up
phase of IFCC, the entire staff processed incoming complaints
and forwarded them to an average of four to five law enforcement
agencies. This referral process has spawned hundreds of
criminal investigations throughout the country. The FBI
staff at the IFCC have begun to use the data to identify
multiple victims, various crime trends and same subject
cases thus initiating the investigative phase of the center's
operations. This process wasn't fully functional until January
1, 2001. There are two types of investigations at IFCC,
one when the receiving agency initiates an investigation
based on the complaint received from the center, and those
investigations initiated at the center based on the information
available.
From October
1, 2000 through April 6, 2001, 423 investigations were referred,
and an additionally 361 pending investigation are in the
process of being referred to various law enforcement agencies.
These 784 Internet Fraud investigations have encompassed
over 3,000 complaints and have been referred to numerous
federal law enforcement agencies and 1,267 local law enforcement
agencies.
These do not
include the investigations initiated by the complaint referral
process. IFCC has also referred 41 cases encompassing over
200 complaints to International law enforcement agencies.
To date, IFCC has referred 10,371 complaints to 39,636 law
enforcement agencies.
The IFCC has
received complaints of victims from 89 different countries.
Auction fraud is by far the most reported Internet fraud,
comprising nearly two-thirds of all complaints. Payment
for merchandise that was never delivered accounts for 22%
of complaints, and credit and debit card fraud make up almost
5% of complaints.
There are four
Supervisory Special Agents managing twenty three Internet
Crime Specialist, seventeen clerical and four computer scientist
positions. Hours of operation are from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30
p.m. EST, but victims can file complaints twenty four hours
per day, 365 days per year.
#####
| 2001 Press Releases | FBI
Home Page |