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The FBI says it received a record number of complaints from the public last year about cybercrimes, including scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic, costing Americans a staggering $4.2 billion in losses.The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 791,790 complaints in 2020, an increase of 69% over 2019 and the largest number since the center was created two decades ago, the bureau said in a report released Wednesday.By comparison, the total reported losses were $3.5 billion in 2019 and $1.5 billion five years ago, according to the report.The type of online scam known as Business E-Email Compromise (BEC) remained the costliest category, the report said, resulting in losses of about $1.8 billion. Once a fraudster gains access to a business’s email account, he or she makes unauthorized fund transfers.The COVID-19 outbreak gave scammers new opportunities to steal. The FBI internet crime center received more than 28,500 complaints related to people struggling to cope with the pandemic, the report said, without putting a dollar figure on the losses.Most vulnerable are targeted“These criminals used phishing, spoofing, extortion, and various types of Internet-enabled fraud to target the most vulnerable in our society — medical workers searching for personal protective equipment, families looking for information about stimulus checks to help pay bills, and many others,” the report said.The center received thousands of complaints related to COVID-linked unemployment benefit and small business loan programs Congress created last year.FILE – This graphic shows an excerpt from a U.S. Department of the Treasury Paycheck Protection Program FAQ document.The congressionally funded Paycheck Protection Program has proven a magnet for fraudsters. Congress created the program last March with an initial authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses that keep workers on their payrolls. The Justice Department has charged numerous individuals with defrauding the program by setting up shell companies and other schemes.In the latest case, tech executive Mukund Mohan pleaded guilty on Monday of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his scheme to obtain over $5.5 million in PPP loans and launder the proceeds.The top three crimes reported to the FBI’s internet crime center last year were phishing or password theft scams, nonpayment/nondelivery scams and extortion, the report said.In a nonpayment scheme, goods and services are shipped but payment is never made. A nondelivery scheme involves receiving payment without supplying goods and services.Identity theft utilizedIn several states, fraudsters filed illegal unemployment benefit claims using stolen identities, according to the report.“Many victims of this identity theft scheme did not know they had been targeted until they attempted to file their own legitimate claim for unemployment insurance benefits,” the report said.In recent months, a slew of new scams related to COVID vaccines has emerged: schemes asking people to pay out of pocket to receive a vaccine, put their names on a vaccine waiting list or obtain early access.“Fraudulent advertisements for vaccines popped up on social media platforms, or came via email, telephone calls, online, or from unsolicited/unknown sources,” the report said.The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center was set up in 2000 as part of the bureau’s effort to combat cybercrime. It has received 5.8 million complaints, some of which have been referred to law enforcement agencies for investigation.
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Facebook has reached an agreement with Australia’s News Corp under a new law that makes social media giants pay domestic news outlets for their content.The terms of the multi-year deal were not disclosed in Tuesday’s announcement. The deal comes nearly one month after Australia’s parliament approved a law that would allow a government arbitrator to decide the price a digital company should pay news outlets if the two sides fail to reach an agreement.News Corp Chief Executive Officer Robert Thomson said the agreement “is a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism, and will have a material and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses.”According to Facebook’s head of news partnerships in Australia, Andrew Hunter, the deal means the social media giant’s 17 million users in the country “will gain access to premium news articles and breaking news video from News Corp’s network of national, metropolitan, rural and suburban newsrooms.”The law’s passage occurred after a bitter standoff between U.S.-based Facebook and News Corp, owned by global media mogul Rupert Murdoch, that culminated with the social media giant blocking all Australian news content from the site, as well as the websites of several public agencies and emergency services, including pages that include up-to-date information on COVID-19 outbreaks, brushfires and other natural disasters.The situation was resolved after negotiators for the government and Facebook reached an agreement on a set of changes to the legislation before its final passage.News Corp says its Australian subsidiary, Sky News, had also reached a separate deal with Facebook that extends an existing agreement.Australian media companies have seen their advertising revenue increasingly siphoned off by big tech firms like Google and Facebook in recent years.Google had also threatened to block news content if the law were passed, even warning last August that Australians’ personal information could be “at risk” if digital giants had to pay for news content.But the company had already signed a number of separate agreements with News Corp and other Australian media giants such as Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media.Nine Entertainment and Seven West have said they have signed letters of intent with Facebook on a potential deal.
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