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MISSION
To develop
a national strategic plan to address fraud over the Internet
and to provide support to law enforcement and regulatory agencies
at all levels of government for fraud that occurs over the Internet.
GOALS
The
Internet Fraud and Complaint Center has the following goals and
objectives:
- To develop
a national strategy to address Internet fraud
- To develop
criminal Internet fraud cases and obtain criminal prosecutions
of those companies and individuals responsible
- To reduce
the amount of economic loss by Internet fraud throughout the
United States
- To provide
an analytical repository for Internet fraud complaints
- To receive,
analyze and refer all fraudulent activity identified on the Internet
- To identify
current crime trends over the Internet and to develop investigative
techniques to address those identified crime problems
- To track
fraud facilitated by the Internet and provide analytical support
of Internet crime trends
- To act
as an investigative resource for Internet fraud and to develop
training modules to investigate Internet fraud
- To develop
information packets from complaints generated and forward that
information to the appropriate law enforcement agencies
One of
the most critical challenges facing the FBI and law enforcement
in general, is the use of the Internet for criminal purposes.
Understanding and using the Internet to combat Internet fraud
is essential for law enforcement. The fraud being committed over
the Internet is the same type of white collar fraud the FBI has
traditionally investigated but poses additional concerns and
challenges because of the new environment in which it takes place.
Internet
fraud is defined as any fraudulent scheme in which one or more
components of the Internet, such as Web sites, chat rooms and
E-mail, play a significant role in offering nonexistent goods
or services to consumers, communicating false or fraudulent representations
about the schemes to consumers, or transmitting victims' funds,
access devices or other items of value to the control of the
scheme's perpetrators. The frauds range from simple geometric
progression schemes to complex frauds. The Internet appears to
be a perfect manner to locate victims and provides an environment
where the victims don't see or speak to the fraudsters.
Anyone in the privacy of their own home can create a very persuasive
vehicle for fraud over the Internet.
In addition,
the expenses associated with the operation of a home page and
the use of electronic mail (E-mail) are minimal. Fraudsters do
not require the capital to send out mailers, hire people to respond
to the mailers, finance and operate toll free numbers, etc. This
technology has evolved exponentially over the past few years
and will continue to evolve at a tremendous rate. The accessibility
of such an immense audience, coupled with the anonymity of the
subject, require a different approach.
SITUATION
Computer
crimes can be broken down into two main categories: computers
used as targets where the general motivation is to impair, damage
or alter the computer system; or when the computer merely serves
to facilitate the illegal activity.
Internet
fraud does not have traditional boundaries as seen in traditional
schemes. No one knows the full extent of the fraud being committed
on the Internet. Not all victims report fraud, and those who
do register a complaint, do not report it to one central repository.
One of
the most critical problems associated with fraud being perpetrated
over the Internet is the fact that the instances of fraud are
disjointed and spread throughout the country. The traditional
methods of detecting, reporting and investigating fraud fail
in this environment. Victims of fraud are unsure of how or where
to report what they see or what they have experienced on the
Internet. Law enforcement agencies receive complaints in a piecemeal
fashion, most not reaching a level to advance the complaint to
an investigation. Another problem is venue. Complaints are often
misdirected and lost due to the fact that the Internet is virtual
as opposed to physical. Without some technical investigatory
steps it is usually impossible to identify the location of a
web site or the origin of an E-mail.
Computer-facilitated
financial scams perpetrated via the Internet and the theft of
technology and/or intellectual property by competitors, foreign
intelligence services or those merely seeking personal gain are
rapidly growing. Internet-related and computer-facilitated crimes
primarily impact the priority White Collar Crime (WCC) problem
areas of financial institution fraud, securities and commodities
fraud, telemarketing fraud, money laundering, insurance frauds
and theft of technology/intellectual property rights.
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