October 10, 2008, Newsletter Issue #73: Report Online Identity Theft to the FBI through the Internet Crime Complaint Center

Tip of the Week

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) was established as a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). The Center serves the law enforcement community, including federal, state, local, and international agencies tasked with combating Internet crime and is the agency for reporting identity theft and fraud that occurs online.



In 2006, IC3 received 207,492 complaint submissions and referred 86,279 of the complaints to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies throughout the country for further investigation. The majority of referrals were fraud cases. Although Internet auction fraud was the number one reported offense, credit card and computer fraud were in the top seven categories.



IC3 receives and refers criminal complaints exclusively related to cyber crime. Victims can use the online form for reporting identity theft and other Internet crimes. The form can be completed by the victim or through a third party to the complainant.



The more information you can provide, the better IC3 can process your complaint and route it to the appropriate authorities for investigation. You’ll be asked to provide the following information in your report:

Your name, mailing address and telephone numberThe name, address, telephone number, and URL of the individual or organization you believe defrauded you. Details of the incident and why you think you’ve been defrauded.Any other relevant information to support your complaint.For more information or to file a complaint online, visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center at: http://www.ic3.gov.

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