| Cybercrime
The CyberTipline at the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children received over 40,000 reports of online sexually exploitative
behavior of children between July 1998 and June 2001. During this
period there were 192 reports of cybercontact involving child pornography;
4026 reports of online enticement; 1,880 reports of child sexual
molestation; 779 reports of child prostitution; and 426 reports
of child sex tourism. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention [OJJDP] January 2002. Protecting Children in Cyberspace:
The ICAC Task Force Program. Washington, DC : U.S. Department
of Justice.)
One in five children between the ages of 10 and 17 will receive
a sexual solicitation over the Internet each year, and one in 33
will receive an aggressive invitation to meet the solicitor, have
telephone contact, or receive mail, money and gifts. (The National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children [NCMEC]. 2000. Online
Victimization: A Report on the Nation's Youth. Arlington, VA.)
A survey of victims of 353 cyberstalking cases in 2000 and 2001
reveals that over 57 percent are Caucasian; over 80 percent are
women; 47 percent are 18-40 years of age, and almost half the offenders
were strangers to the victims. (Hitchcock,
J. November 2002. "Cyberstalking
and Law Enforcement" Crime Victims Report. 6 [5].)
Of the 353 cyberstalking cases surveyed by Working to Halt Online
Abuse (WHO@) in 2000, 39.5 percent began as email communications;
15.5 percent as chat room exchange; 13 percent from instant messaging;
9 percent from a web-based message board; 8.5 percent in a newsroom;
7.0 percent in a general website; 3 percent with a virus attack;
and the rest were miscellaneous contacts. (Working to Halt Online
Abuse WHO@). 2002. Online Harassment Statistics. http://www.haltabuse.org)
Site visited 11/24/2002.)
An investigation by the Internet Fraud Complaint Center at the
FBI found that 56,000 victims had been defrauded of 117 million
dollars in 2000. (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]. May 2001. Internet
Fraud Crime Problem. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)
In 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission took action against
33 different companies for using "pump and dump" schemes
to inflate stock prices of more than 70 micro-cap stocks through
the use of electronic newsletters and message boards that spread
false information on the Internet. (Federal Bureau of Investigation
[FBI]. Securities and Commodities Fraud. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Justice.)
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center at the FBI received 49,711
complaints in 2001. The top five online fraud complaints were Internet
auction fraud, non-deliverable merchandise, Nigerian letter fraud,
credit card fraud, and confidence schemes. Complaints on non-fraudulent
activities included computer intrusions, SPAM/unsolicited mail,
and child pornography. (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI].
2002. 2001 Internet Fraud Report. Washington, DC:
Department of Justice.)
Victims of Nigerian letter scams, identity theft, and investment
fraud reported the highest median dollar losses per person to the
FBI in 2001: they reported losses of $5,575, $3,000, and $1,000
respectively. (Ibid.)
The National Fraud Information Center received reports of Internet
fraud totaling $7,209,196 during the first six months of 2002.
Eighty-seven percent of the losses occurred at online auction sites.
(National Fraud Information Center. [NFIC] 2002. Internet Fraud
Statistics. Washington DC: National Consumer League.)
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| National Crime Victims' Rights
Week: Fulfill the Promise |
April 6–12, 2003 |
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