FBI ranks Florida second in the nation in internet crime reports
Recession leads way to new wave of cyber crime
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 02/25/2011
TAMPA - Cyber crime experts say the weak economy has helped push Florida to one of the top spots in the nation for internet crime.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center reported Florida finished second in the nation in the number of complaints received, behind California. The sunshine state was second in the number of perpetrators indentified, also behind California.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Corporal Kevin Bodie, a cyber crime expert, says Florida's high unemployment rate has something to do with Florida's rank. "The economic structure that we're going through right now plays a tremendous role in it," said Bodie. "People who don't have a job, or are trying to make something extra to help the family are more vulnerable."
The FBI reported the agency itself is now being used by cyber criminals to dupe victims. More than 13% of the cyber complaints received were "FBI-related scams." Special Agent Dave Couvertier, of the Tampa Field Office, said, "The imagination of the crook is the only limitation to the cyber crime they cook up."
Couvertier says the FBI does not make notification through the internet.
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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