Cybercrime

Every day more than one million people fall victim to cybercrime. The National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) is pleased to collaborate with Symantec to provide resources for cybercrime victims. Visit our Victim Voice and forward to anyone who has concerns about cybercrime. Victim Voice provides a wealth of resources related to cybercrime, including prevention tips and steps to take if victimized. This site also allows users to file a complaint about an online crime directly with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.  

Prevention

There are many precautions you can take to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime. A few of the most important steps to remember are:

• Research: If you plan to do business with a company, website, or even an individual, take a few minutes and run their name through a search engine and see if there have been any complaints against them.  The Better Business Bureau is also a great resource that has information and ratings on businesses.  The Internet is a great resource for researching information on scams and scammers.
• Use Caution: Be wary when entering your credit card and personal information into websites. If it is not a secure site, or you are using a public computer or shared Wi-Fi connection, you probably should avoid the transaction if at all possible. There are various e-commerce businesses designed that allow payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet in a safe environment.  Also, since even the most vigilant computer user may fall victim to online scams, utilize security software, browser tools and password managers to ensure that your information remains protected through your activities online.
• Be Aware: Protect yourself by reading up on some of the latest and most prevalent scams. If something sounds “off” to you, chances are it’s a scam. By educating yourself, you can learn how to spot a scam, whether it is a soliciting email, a false transaction alert from an auction site, or a work-from-home offer. Empower yourself to know the difference between legitimate online opportunities and cybercrime scams.

It's Most Likely a Scam If...

• You receive an email stating you won or are inheriting money.
• It looks or sounds too good to be true.
• You are asked to wire money instead of sending a check or using an online payment method.
• The person you are dealing with is out of the country.
• You are purchasing a vehicle or any other item, and the seller claims to be in a different location than the vehicle.
• An individual wants to send you a check for more than what you’re asking for an item and requests that you cash the check and wire the extra money back.
• You can work from home and only have to cash checks or “reship” items.
• You receive an email from your bank asking for any login info, bank account info, or personal info.
• An offer is unsolicited.