FBI warns of ‘large increase’ in sextortion attacks, with $8 million in reported losses in 2021

Hackers and creeps extorted $8 million from Americans over the first seven months of the year by threatening to publish sexual images unless victims paid a fee, according to figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI bulletin published Thursday confirms what many cybercrime researchers may have already feared: Sextortion scams are prevalent, and profitable. More than 16,000 victims reported their issues to the FBI, with nearly half of the complaints coming from people between 20 and 39 years old. The 16,000 complaints almost certainly represent a fraction of the true figure, as victims of sex-related crimes often choose not to report issues to the police for a variety of reasons, including fears of retaliation or a belief that authorities won’t help resolve the issue. The bureau reports that the number of complaints in 2021 marks a “large increase,” though the precise size of the uptick remains unclear. The […]

The post FBI warns of ‘large increase’ in sextortion attacks, with $8 million in reported losses in 2021 appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading FBI warns of ‘large increase’ in sextortion attacks, with $8 million in reported losses in 2021

Wanted: Disgruntled Employees to Deploy Ransomware

Criminal hackers will try almost anything to get inside a profitable enterprise and secure a million-dollar payday from a ransomware infection. Apparently now that includes emailing employees directly and asking them to unleash the malware inside their employer’s network in exchange for a percentage of any ransom amount paid by the victim company. Continue reading Wanted: Disgruntled Employees to Deploy Ransomware

Feds Indict 281 People for Involvement in Massive E-Mail Fraud Scheme

A coordinated effort between multiple agencies arrested suspects in Nigeria, the U.S. and eight other countries as well as seized nearly $3.7 million. Continue reading Feds Indict 281 People for Involvement in Massive E-Mail Fraud Scheme

How Do You Fight a $12B Fraud Problem? One Scammer at a Time

The fraudsters behind the often laughable Nigerian prince email scams have long since branched out into far more serious and lucrative forms of fraud, including account takeovers, phishing, dating scams, and malware deployment. Combating such a multifarious menace can seem daunting, but in truth it calls for concerted efforts to tackle the problem from many different angles. This post examines the work of a large, private group of volunteers dedicated to doing just that. Continue reading How Do You Fight a $12B Fraud Problem? One Scammer at a Time

FBI: Extortion, CEO Fraud Among Top Online Fraud Complaints in 2016

Online extortion, tech support scams and phishing attacks that spoof the boss were among the most costly cyber scams reported by consumers and businesses last year, according to new figures from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

The IC3 report released Thursday correctly identifies some of the most prevalent and insidious forms of cybercrimes today, but the total financial losses tied to each crime type also underscore how infrequently victims actually report such crimes to law enforcement. Continue reading FBI: Extortion, CEO Fraud Among Top Online Fraud Complaints in 2016