Report says Idahoans lost over $2 million to Internet scams last year
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Idaho residents lost more than $2 million to Internet con artists in 2012, according to a report by the FBI’s IC3 Internet Crime Center. Nationally, an estimated $525.4 million was stolen.
In 2012, the Center received 1,173 calls from Idaho residents on crimes involving the Internet. The IC3, a joint project of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center, has been tracking Internet fraud and crime in the United States for 13 years.
The top types of Internet fraud had to do with auto sales, e-mail scams that impersonate the FBI, intimidation/extortion (including threatening e-mails and the so-called “grandparent scam”), “scareware,” real estate fraud, and romance scams.
The Better Business Bureau said one of the most frightening is the “hit man scam,” in which the scam artist pretends to be a hit man hired to kill the intended victim unless the person receiving the call pays a fee. While it has not resulted in any deaths or even large monetary losses, the scam keeps resurfacing , using the names of terrorists groups or mentioning words like “Jihad” — for additional intimidation.
Dale Dixon, CEO for Better Business Bureau serving the Snake River Region, said the report is yet another reminder of making sure your identity is guarded.
“Losing that much money does not detail the anguish these people had to go through — or are going through — to recover their identities,” Dixon says.
The BBB reminds people to never give out personal or financial information over the Internet or by phone. The BBB works to expose the scams in the area and has set up a special alert line that blasts out an e-mail when calls start coming to the Snake River Region. Office.
The 2012 Internet Crime Report reveals both the volume and the scope of Internet crime, as well as the efforts of law enforcement to combat these crimes, said National White Collar Crime Center Director Don Brackman.
“As technology continues to advance, so will our efforts to stay one step ahead of cyber criminals,” he says.