The FBI Las Vegas Field Office wants to educate the public about when to report cybercrime to IC3.gov and how the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team (RAT) helps field offices to freeze funds for victims who made transfers to domestic accounts under fraudulent pretenses.

The FBI’s IC3 receives cybercrime complaints from private citizens and industry, and develops and refers complaints to law enforcement when appropriate. Once a complaint is filed, all are added to the IC3’s expansive database. Internet crime analysts compile similar complaints, collect relevant case information from both open-source and closed-source public information databases, and confer with state, local, tribal, federal, and international law enforcement personnel.

The IC3’s Recovery Asset Team was established in February 2018 to streamline communications with financial institutions when individuals become victims to various money scams. When the IC3 receives a complaint from a victim that made a transfer under fraudulent pretenses to a bank account located in the United States, the RAT forwards the transaction details to an identified point of contact at the recipient bank to notify the bank of the fraudulent activity and request freezing of the account. Once a response is received from the recipient bank, the RAT contacts the appropriate FBI field office. Between January 1 and December 31, 2021, the RAT assisted with 1,726 incidents involving losses of more than $443 million. The RAT helped freeze more than $328 million, a 74 percent success rate.

For the RAT to be effective, individuals must immediately report Internet-related crimes to the IC3 and include all pertinent information, including account details. For more information, please visit IC3.gov.