Internet Crime Complaints Surge in 2020, Fueled By Pandemic

By James Coker for Infosecurity Magazine
Thursday, March 18, 2021

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Additionally, the study emphasized the extent to which fraudsters leveraged the COVID-19 crisis, with the IC3 receiving over 28,500 complaints related to pandemic. These included the targeting of a number of government financial relief schemes, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

Commenting on the findings, Ilia Kolochenko, CEO, founder and chief architect at ImmuniWeb, said: “The most popular incidents mentioned in the report involve human error, spanning from trivial consumer fraud and phishing to more sophisticated BEC hacking and ransomware campaigns. In 2020, attackers were aggressively exploiting pandemic-related topics, a trend that will likely persist this year. Unsurprisingly, most of the self-reported victims are over 60 years old – they may lack cybersecurity training and are susceptible to manipulation.” Read Full Article