The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has revealed that Americans lost $10.3 billion to numerous internet scams last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This was disclosed according to an FBI report published this month, stating that losses were the highest in five years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to ABC News on Tuesday, the Bureau\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) lodged more than 2,000 complaints per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most highly reported crimes were phishing expeditions, with 300,497 victims reporting over $52 million in losses in 2022, according to the Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phishing, defined as \u201cthe use of unsolicited email, text messages, and telephone calls purportedly from a legitimate company requesting personal, financial, and\/or login credentials,\u201d is frequently successful because phishing emails will often resemble those from people victims know personally, prompting them to click on unsecured links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data breaches and non-payment scams were the next most common internet scams in 2022, claiming 58,859 and 51,679 victims, respectively, per the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ransomware, a type of cyber intrusion which locks up a device\u2019s data until a ransom is paid, is of particular concern for cybersecurity professionals due to the underreporting of ransomware attacks by victims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2022, the FBI \u201creceived 2,385 complaints known as ransomware with adjusted losses of more than $34.3 million,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe IC3 has seen an increase in an additional extortion tactic used to facilitate ransomware. The threat actors pressure victims to pay by threatening to publish the stolen data if they do not pay the ransom,\u201d the IC3 warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has also revealed that the most heavily targeted industry for ransomware attacks was the healthcare industry, followed by critical manufacturing and government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe FBI does not encourage paying a ransom to criminal actors,\u201d the report said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPaying a ransom may embolden adversaries to target additional organizations, encourage other criminal actors to engage in the distribution of ransomware, and\/or fund illicit activities. Paying the ransom also does not guarantee that a victim\u2019s files will be recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Earlier this year, the Justice Department disrupted a ransomware gang called HIVE, which was responsible for 87 incidents targeting critical infrastructure, the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Call center scams, which emanated from India mainly, are responsible for over $1 billion in losses to victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCall centers overwhelmingly target the elderly, with devastating effects,\u201d the report says. \u201cAlmost half the victims report to be over 60 (46%), and experience 69% of the losses (over $724 million).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, the aged lost $3.1 billion to internet scams in 2022, the most of any age group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FBI has a 73% success rate in getting victims their funds back, according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Source: https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/2023\/03\/americans-lost-over-10bn-to-internet-scams-in-2022-fbi\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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