the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Upper Saddle River NJ, the Borough of Upper Saddle River in conjunction with the Upper Saddle River Police Department posted the FBI’a Internet Crime Report. The following information applies to the entire county with the exception that you would be calling you local police.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) “2019 Internet Crime Report.” With total losses of 3.5 billion, the 28-page report is a sad reminder of how cybercriminals are actively preying on individuals and businesses each day. New Jersey ranked #14 in the Country with 9,067 total victims and losses of $106,474,464. The Upper Saddle River Police Department receives various types of cybercrime complaints from our residents each year. Within the past week, a resident in our town fell victim to a phone scam and lost thousands of dollars. Complaints have been reported for such things as credit card fraud, identity theft, check fraud, email phishing, and fraudulent internet sales. Other frauds include computer/email repair, pay in advance and the exploitation of information on social media sites to defraud grandparents out of large sums of money.
A review of the Internet Crime report revealed the following facts:
FBI received 467,361 internet crime complaints in 2019, (1,300 every day)
The most frequently reported complaint were phishing, non-payment/non delivery frauds and extortion.
The most costly complaints involved business email compromises, romance or confidence fraud, and spoofing.
In 2019, IC3 recorded 23,775 complaints of business’ emails compromise, which resulted in 1.7 billion in losses.
In 2019, the IC3 received 13,633 complaints related to Tech support fraud, from victims in 48 countries, losses amounted to 54 million.
In 2019, IC3 received 2047 complaints identified as Ransomware, with 8.9 million in losses.
10,724 victims under the age of 20 with total losses of $421,169,232.
68,013 victims over the age of 60 with total losses of $835,164,766.
The Recovery Asset Team, part of the FBI’s IC3 Recovery and Investigative Development (RaID) team, managed to recover more than $300 million that had been lost through online frauds.
A copy of the report can be found at the following link:
For additional information about the Internet Fraud Complaint Center or to file a complaint, please visit their website at: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
As always, the Upper Saddle River Police Department is here to help. If you feel that you are a victim of a cybercrime, please contact our dispatch center for assistance. Free identity theft booklets, which contain information related to cybersecurity, are also available for pick up at the Police Department.
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the Upper Saddle River Police Department Detective Bureau.