Security News > 2021 > May > FBI: IC3 Received 6 Million Cybercrime Complaints Since Inception
The Federal Bureau of Investigation says its Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than one million cybercrime complaints over the past 14 months.
Established in 2000 as the Internet Fraud Complaint Center and renamed in 2002, IC3 has received a total of 6 million complaints to date.
In March last year, only weeks before its 20th anniversary, the Center topped 5 million complaints.
Throughout 2020, the IC3 received roughly 800,000 cybercrime complaints, which resulted in losses of approximately $4.2 billion.
The global pandemic has led to the emergence of scams exploiting COVID-19 themes but also resulted in an overall increase in complaints related to cybercrimes - mainly because of an increase in activities and commerce online - and the IC3 believes that 2021 may be a record year as well.
Referring to the massive increase in registered complaints, IC3 Chief Donna Gregory noted that more reports help the FBI become more effective in fighting cyber-enabled crimes.