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2024 Internet Crime List - Explanations of Current and New Internet and Email Scams
2024 Internet Crime List - Explanations of Current and
New Internet and Email Scams
Scams perpetrated on the internet and by emails are constantly
changing. Scammers try new ways to con, trick or rob victims and
stay ahead of detection methods and law enforcement.
- 419/Overpayment
(also called the Nigerian Scam) - Con artists pretend to be
officials, businesspeople, or the surviving spouses
of former government honchos in Nigeria or other
countries whose money is somehow tied up for a
limited time. They offer to transfer lots of money
into your bank account if you will pay a fee or
"taxes" to help them access their money. If you
respond to the initial offer, you may receive
documents that look "official." Then they ask you to
send money to cover transaction and transfer costs
and attorney's fees, as well as blank letterhead,
your bank account numbers, or other information.
They may even encourage you to travel to Nigeria or
a border country to complete the transaction. Some
fraudsters have even produced trunks of dyed or
stamped money to verify their claims. "419" refers to the section in Nigerian law
regarding con artistry and fraud and is associated with requests for
help facilitating the transfer of money.
- Advanced Fee Fraud - AFF
- a very common scam in which a fee is demanded from the victim in advance of
the victim receiving a lottery winning, a loan, money from a dead relative, etc.
Often these scammers are based in Nigeria, the Netherlands or China. In advance fee schemes, the perpetrator informs a victim
that the victim has qualified for a large financial loan or has won a
large financial award, but must first pay the perpetrator taxes or
fees in order to access the loan or award. The victim pays the advance
fee, but never receives the promised money.
-
Auction Reseller Scam (on Ebay, etc.) - Scammers posing as buyers convice
sellers into shipping goods prior to receiving payment. Usually the fake
buyer claims it's an 'emergency' like a child's birthday and asks the
seller to ship the same day. The seller receives an email that appears as
though it came from PayPal for the payment, but emails like that are easy
for scammers to fake.
- Business Email Compromise and Email Account Compromise - BEC is a scam
targeting businesses working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses
regularly performing wire transfer payments. EAC is a similar scam
that targets individuals. These sophisticated scams are carried out
by fraudsters compromising email accounts through social engineering or
computer intrusion techniques to conduct unauthorized transfer of
funds.
- Charity Perpetrators set up false charities, usually following
natural disasters, and profit from individuals who believe they are
making donations to legitimate charitable organizations.
- Civil Matter Civil lawsuits are any disputes formally submitted to a
court that is not criminal. Confidence/Romance Fraud: A perpetrator
deceives a victim into believing the perpetrator and the victim have
a trust relationship, whether family, friendly or romantic. As a result
of that belief, the victim is persuaded to send money, personal and
financial information, or items of value to the perpetrator or to
launder money on behalf of the perpetrator. Some variations of this
scheme are romance/dating scams or the grandparent's scam.
- Corporate Data Breach
- A leak or spill of business data that is
released from a secure location to an untrusted environment. It may
also refer to a data breach within a corporation or business where
sensitive, protected, or confidential data is copied, transmitted,
viewed, stolen or used by an individual unauthorized to do so.
- Credit Card - Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for fraud
committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a
fraudulent source of funds in a transaction.
- Crimes Against Children - Anything related to the exploitation of
children, including child abuse.
- Criminal Forums - A medium where criminals exchange ideas and
protocols relating to intrusion.
- Denial of Service
- An interruption of an authorized user's access to
any system or network, typically caused with malicious intent.
- Employment
and Job Scams - fake job offers, trying to
either get your personal information, or trick you into showing up for a
multi-level marketing pitch. 30biz.com and others. Also see these borderline scams:
spam job interview emails. Also see
work from home scams. An individual believes they are legitimately employed,
and loses money or launders money/items during the course of their
employment.
- Extortion - Unlawful extraction of money or property through
intimidation or undue exercise of authority. It may include threats
of physical harm, criminal prosecution, or public exposure. Sextportion
is the latest form of this crime.
- Gambling - Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and
iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.
Government Impersonation: A government official is impersonated in an
attempt to collect money.Lottery scams
-are a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize
- Hacktivist - A computer hacker whose activity is aimed at promoting a
social or political cause.
- Harassment/Threats of Violence - Harassment occurs when a perpetrator
uses false accusations or statements of fact to intimidate a victim.
Threats of Violence refers to an expression of an intention to
inflict pain, injury, or punishment, which does not refer to the
requirement of payment. see Death Threat Extortion Scams
- Health Care Related - A scheme attempting to defraud private or
government health care programs, usually involving health care
providers, companies, or individuals. Schemes may include offers for
fake insurance cards, health insurance marketplace assistance, stolen
health information, or may involve medications, supplements, weight
loss products, or diversion/pill mill practices. These scams are
often initiated through spam email, Internet advertisements, links in
forums or social media, and fraudulent websites.
- IPR/Copyright and Counterfeit - The theft and illegal use of others'
ideas, inventions, and creative expressions, to include everything
from trade secrets and proprietary products to parts to movies,
music, and software. See Counterfeit Shoes: Nikes (and Others)
- Identity Theft /Account Takeover - Identify theft involves a
perpetrator stealing another person's personal identifying
information, such as name or Social Security number, without
permission to commit fraud. Account Takeover is when a perpetrator
obtains account information to perpetrate fraud on existing accounts.
- Investment - Deceptive practice that induces investors to make
purchases on the basis of false information. These scams usually
offer the victims large returns with minimal risk. Variations of this
scam include retirement schemes, Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes.
- Lottery/Sweepstakes
- An individual is contacted about winning a
lottery or sweepstakes they never entered and are asked to pay a tax
or fee in order to receive their winnings. You receive an email claiming you won a prize, lottery or
gift, and you only have to pay a "small fee" to claim it or cover
"handling costs". These include scams which can go under the name of genuine lotteries like the
UK National Lottery and the El Gordo Spanish lottery.
Unsolicited email or telephone calls tell people they are being entered or
have already been entered into a prize
draw. Later, they receive a call congratulating them on winning a substantial
prize in a national lottery. But before they can claim their prize, they are told they must send money
to pay for administration fees and taxes. The prize, of course, does not exist.
No genuine lottery asks for money to pay fees or notifies it's winners
vian email.
- Malware/Scareware - Software intended to damage or disable computers
and computer systems. Sometimes scare tactics are used by the
perpetrators to solicit funds.
- Misrepresentation
Internetmerchandise scams - Merchandise or services were purchased or
contracted by individuals online for which the purchasers provided
payment. The goods or services received were of a measurably lesser
quality or quantity than was described by the seller. See Shopping scams
- Non-Payment/Non-Delivery - In non-payment situations, goods and
services are shipped, but payment is never rendered. In non-delivery
situations, payment is sent, but goods and services are never
received.
- Personal Data Breach - A leak or spill of personal data that is
released from a secure location to an untrusted environment. It may
also refer to a security incident in which an individual's sensitive,
protected, or confidential data is copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen
or used by an unauthorized individual.
- Phishing/Vishing/Smishing/Pharming - fake emails and fake websites pretending to be your
bank, credit card company or other agency, and asking for your private
account information. Often they claim to be from PayPal, Barclay's Bank,
Citibank, Chase Manhattan bank, or other well-known names. Unsolicited email, text messages,
and telephone calls purportedly from a legitimate company requesting
personal, financial, and/or login credentials.
- Ransomware - A type of malicious software designed to block access to
a computer system until money is paid.
- Re-shipping - Individuals receive packages purchased through
fraudulent means and subsequently repackage the merchandise for
shipment, usually abroad.
- Real Estate/Rental - Fraud involving real estate, rental or timeshare
property
- Social Media - A complaint alleging the use of social networking or
social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, chat rooms, etc.) as a
vector for fraud. Social Media does not include dating sites.
- Tech Support - Attempts to gain access to a victim's electronic device
by falsely claiming to offer tech support, usually for a well-known
company. Scammer asks for remote access to the victim's device to
clean-up viruses or malware or to facilitate a refund for prior support
services. You get a call or a pop-up on your computer claiming to be
from Microsoft (or Norton, or Apple) about a problem on your computer.
They say if you give "tech support" access to your hard drive, they can
fix it. Instead, they install malware on your computer and start
stealing your personal information.
- Terrorism - Violent acts intended to create fear that is perpetrated
for a religious, political, or ideological goal and deliberately
target or disregard the safety of non-combatants.
- Virus - Code capable of copying itself and having a detrimental
effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.
- Virtual Currency - A complaint mentioning a form of virtual
cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Potcoin.