The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its latest annual report. The 2024 Internet Crime Report combines information from 859,532 complaints of suspected internet crime and details reported losses exceeding $16 billion – a 33% increase in losses from 2023.
According to the 2024 report, South Carolina ranked 22 out of all states in the number of complaints received by the public. South Carolinians reported $146 million in losses, a $27 million increase from the prior year. As a group, people 60 and older submitted the greatest number of complaints and suffered the most severe financial losses at $58.5 million.
The top three cyber crimes in South Carolina, by number of complaints, reported by victims in 2024 were: Extortion (1,384), phishing/spoofing (1,259), and personal data breaches (924).
The top three cyber crimes in South Carolina reported by financial losses were: Business email compromises ($40.8 million), up from $30.6 million in 2023; investment fraud ($38.4 million), down from $42.5 million the previous year; and confidence/romance scams ($15.1 million), up from $11.3 million in 2023.
“Cyber crime remains a serious and growing threat to South Carolinians, with victims losing millions of dollars annually,” said Reid Davis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia field office. “The FBI is fully committed to identifying and bringing cybercriminals to justice and empowering the public with the critical tools and awareness. One effort is our outreach to South Carolina seniors where we engage with groups about current online threats and provide them with security measures they can take to stay ahead of the evolving cyber landscape.”
To promote public awareness, the IC3 produces an annual report to aggregate and highlight the data provided by the public. The quality of the data is a direct reflection of the information the public provides through the IC3 website. The IC3 standardizes the data by categorizing each complaint and analyzes the data to identify and forecast trends in internet crime. The annual report helps the FBI develop effective relationships with industry partners and share information for investigative and intelligence purposes for law enforcement and public awareness.
The IC3, which was established in May 2000, houses nine million complaints from the public in its database and continues to encourage anyone who thinks they’ve been the victim of a cyber-enabled crime, regardless of dollar loss, to file a complaint through the IC3 website. The more comprehensive complaints the FBI receives, the more effective it will be in helping law enforcement gain a more accurate picture of the extent and nature of internet-facilitated crimes.
The FBI recommends that everyone frequently review consumer and industry alerts published by the IC3. If you or your business are a victim of an internet crime, immediately notify all financial institutions involved in the relevant transactions, submit a complaint to www.ic3.gov, contact your nearest FBI field office, and contact local law enforcement.
Learn more about the history of IC3 by listening to this previously released podcast: FBI podcast episode “Inside the FBI: IC3 Turns 20.”
The full 2024 Internet Crime Report can be found here:
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