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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, INTERNET CRIME COMPLAINT CENTER

INTERNET CRIME REPORT

2021

1. Contents
2. INTRODUCTION
3. THE IC3
4. THE IC3 ROLE IN COMBATING CYBER CRIME ¹
   1. What we do
5. IC3 CORE FUNCTIONS ²

Contents

• INTRODUCTION
• THE IC3
• THE IC3 ROLE IN COMBATING CYBER CRIME
• IC3 CORE FUNCTIONS
• IC3 COMPLAINT STATISTICS
  • Last 5 Years
  • Top 5 Crime Type Comparison
• THREAT OVERVIEWS FOR 2021
  • Business Email Compromise (BEC)
    • IC3 RECOVERY ASSET TEAM
    • RAT SUCCESSES
  • Confidence Fraud / Romance Scams
  • Cryptocurrency (Virtual Currency)
  • Ransomware
  • Tech Support Fraud
• IC3 by the Numbers
• 2021 Victims by Age Group
• 2021 - Top 20 International Victim Countries
• 2021 - Top 10 States by Number of Victims
• 2021 - Top 10 States by Victim Loss in $ Millions
• 2021 CRIME TYPES
• 2021 Crime Types continued
• Last 3 Year Complaint Count Comparison
• Last 3 Year Complaint Loss Comparison
• Overall State Statistics
• Overall State Statistics continued
• Overall State Statistics continued
• Overall State Statistics continued
• Appendix A: Definitions
• Appendix B: Additional Information about IC3 Data

INTRODUCTION

Dear Reader,

In 2021, America experienced an unprecedented increase in cyber attacks and malicious cyber activity. These cyber attacks compromised businesses in an extensive array of business sectors as well as the American public. As the cyber threat evolves and becomes increasingly intertwined with traditional foreign intelligence threats and emerging technologies, the FBI continues to leverage our unique authorities and partnerships to impose risks and consequences on our nation’s cyber adversaries.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) provides the American public with a direct outlet to report cyber crimes to the FBI. We analyze and investigate the reporting to track the trends and threats from cyber criminals and then share this data with our intelligence and law enforcement partners. The FBI, alongside our partners, recognizes how crucial information sharing of cyber activities is to prepare our partners to combat the cyber threat, through a whole-of-government approach. Critical to that approach is public reporting to IC3 - enabling us to fill in the missing pieces with this valuable information during the investigatory process. Not only does this reporting help to prevent additional crimes, it allows us to develop key insights on the ever-evolving trends and threats we face from malign cyber actors.

In 2021, IC3 continued to receive a record number of complaints from the American public: 847,376 reported complaints, which was a 7% increase from 2020, with potential losses exceeding $6.9 billion. Among the 2021 complaints received, ransomware, business e-mail compromise (BEC) schemes, and the criminal use of cryptocurrency are among the top incidents reported. In 2021, BEC schemes resulted in 19,954 complaints with an adjusted loss of nearly $2.4 billion.

IC3’s commitment to cyber victims and partnerships allow for the continued success through programs such as the IC3’s Recovery Asset Team (RAT). Established in 2018, RAT streamlines communications with financial institutions and FBI field offices to assist freezing of funds for victims. In 2021, the IC3’s RAT initiated the Financial Fraud Kill Chain (FFKC) on 1,726 BEC complaints involving domestic to domestic transactions with potential losses of $443,448,237. A monetary hold was placed on approximately $329 million, which represents a 74% success rate.

In 2021, heightened attention was brought to the urgent need for more cyber incident reporting to the federal government. Cyber incidents are in fact crimes deserving of an investigation, leading to judicial repercussions for the perpetrators who commit them. Thank you to all those readers who reported crimes to IC3 throughout the year. Without this reporting, we could not be as effective in ensuring consequences are imposed on those perpetrating these attacks and our understanding of these threats would not be as robust. Please visit IC3.gov to access the latest information on criminal internet activity.

The FBI’s Cyber Division is working harder than ever to protect the American public and to instill safety, security, and confidence in a digitally connected world. We encourage everyone to use IC3 and reach out to their local FBI field office to report malicious activity. Together we can continue to create a safer and more secure cyber landscape.

Paul Abbate Deputy Director Federal Bureau of Investigation

THE IC3

Today’s FBI is an intelligence-driven and threat focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities. We are focused on protecting the American people from terrorism, espionage, cyber attacks and major criminal threats, and on supporting our many partners with information, services, support, training, and leadership. The IC3 serves those needs as a mechanism to gather intelligence on cyber and internet crime so we can stay ahead of the threat.

The IC3 was established in May 2000 to receive complaints of internet related crime and has received more than 6.5 million complaints since its inception. 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. Information is analyzed and disseminated for investigative and intelligence purposes for law enforcement and for public awareness.

To promote public awareness, the IC3 aggregates the submitted data and produces an annual report to educate on the trends impacting the public. The quality of the data is directly attributable to the information ingested via the public interface, www.ic3.gov, and the data categorized based on the information provided in the individual complaints. The IC3 staff analyzes the data to identify trends in cyber crimes and how those trends may impact the public in the coming year.

THE IC3 ROLE IN COMBATING CYBER CRIME ¹

What we do

¹ Accessibility description: Image lists IC3’s primary functions including partnering with private sector and with local, state, federal, and international agencies: hosting a victim reporting portal at www.ic3.gov; providing a central hub to alert the public to threats; Perform Analysis, Complaint Referrals, and Asset Recovery; and hosting a remote access database for all law enforcement via the FBI’s LEEP website.

IC3 CORE FUNCTIONS ²

² Accessibility description: Image contains icons with the core functions. Core functions - Collection, Analysis, Public Awareness, and Referrals - are listed in individual blocks as components of an ongoing process.