Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: A new FBI report reveals emerging trends and the most frequently reported Internet crimes submitted to its Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Report for 2014 shows the number of public complaints about Internet-based crimes with a link to social media quadrupled over the past five years.

Unit Chief Donna Gregory says in most cases victims were exploited through compromised accounts or social engineering.

Donna Gregory: We’re not always as cautious as we should be in managing our security settings. Who can see what we post? It opens up vulnerabilities for criminals to capitalize on.

Halpern: The report also shows the number of virtual currency schemes submitted to the IC3 more than doubled from year before.

The most frequently reported Internet crimes in 2014 were...

Gregory: Auction fraud, government impersonation e-mail scams, intimidation and extortion scams, real estate fraud, and your confidence and romance scams.

Halpern: Read the full report at www.fbi.gov. Report Internet crimes at www.ic3.gov I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau with FBI, This Week.

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