In the recently released 2022 Internet Crime Report produced by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the numbers confirm that cyber actors continue to plague Americans by targeting U.S. networks, attacking critical infrastructure, holding our money and data for ransom, facilitating large-scale fraud schemes, and threatening our national security. IC3 received a total of 800,944 reported complaints, with losses exceeding $10.3 billion. Interestingly, while the total number of complaints decreased by 5%, dollar losses increased significantly by 49%. Phishing schemes were the number one crime type with 300,497 complaints and, for the first time, investment schemes reported the highest financial loss to victims. Victims aged 30-39 were the largest reporting group, while the greatest dollar loss was incurred by citizens aged 60 and older.

Among the complaints received in 2022, phishing, personal data breach, and non-payment/non-delivery are the top incidents reported. And while phishing ranked number one, the associated dollar loss of $52 million is small in comparison to investment fraud which resulted in a $3.3 billion loss— increasing a staggering 127% from the previous year. Within those complaints, cryptocurrency investment fraud rose from $907 million in 2021 to $2.57 billion in 2022, with the most targeted age group reporting this type of scam being 30-49.

In the state-wide rankings, Illinois was 5th highest for number of victims at 14,786, and 7th highest for victim dollar loss at $266.7 million. Business email Compromise (BEC), a sophisticated scam targeting both businesses and individuals performing transfers of funds, topped the list, measuring dollar loss with investment fraud and tech support scams rounding out the top three in Illinois.

• BEC—$83,883,493
• Investment Fraud—$75,614,466
• Tech Support—$31,413,362

“Cyber-enabled crime has been around for many years, but methods used by perpetrators continue to increase in scope and sophistication emanating from around the world,” said FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge David Nanz. “The FBI faces this threat head on by working with our law enforcement and private sector partners, educating the public, and assisting victims. When individuals and entities report incidents to the IC3, they provide valuable information that helps fill gaps crucial to advancing our investigations.”

The IC3 was established by the FBI in May 2000 to receive complaints of Internet related crime and has received more than 7.3 million complaints since its inception, averaging 651,800 complaints per year over the last five years. Its mission is to provide the public with a reliable and convenient reporting mechanism to submit information to the FBI concerning suspected cyber-enabled criminal activity, and to develop effective alliances with law enforcement and industry partners to help those who report.

The FBI recommends that the public frequently review consumer and industry alerts published by IC3. If you are the victim of an Internet crime, submit a complaint to IC3. You can also file a complaint on behalf of another person. More details regarding the 2022 Internet Crime Report can be found online.