BAXTER — Though less often reported than other crimes, instances of internet and phone-based fraud and scams are on the rise and, according to officials, show no sign of slowing down.
In 2021, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center released its
. It states in one year, internet-based crimes have risen 69.4%, from 467,361 reported in 2019 to 791,790 reported in 2020.
The FBI’s report includes only incidents that are self-reported through its online portal and that number is an understatement of how often cybercrimes occur, said Baxter Police Sgt. Victor Sofie. Most victims do not report their victimization, he said, as they are often embarrassed or may not even know they have been a victim of a crime.
In 2018, the New York Times interviewed the head of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and
the “number of complaints only represented about 10 to 12 percent of all estimated cybercrime victims in the United States in 2016, and a fraction of all victims worldwide.”
By state, Minnesota ranks 24th on the number of reported cybercrimes in 2020 with 6,847 reported.
To protect yourself, never open anything on your computer that you don’t recognize.
Baxter Police Sgt. Victor Sofie
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