May 13 (UPI) — Alaskans lost more than $26 million last year to Internet crime through investment fraud, business email compromise and tech support scams, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center released its 2024 Internet Crime Report last month. On Tuesday, FBI Anchorage reported Alaskans filed 6,770 complaints about losses totaling $26.2 million, which is down 17% from 2023, when Alaskans lost $31.7 million. Over the last decade, Alaskans have reported online losses of more than $118 million.
More than $11.7 million, or 45%, of last year’s losses were cryptocurrency-related.
“Last year alone, Alaskans reported over $26 million in financial losses due to online frauds and scams, many of which involved cryptocurrency transactions,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office.
“This isn’t just stolen money — it’s the stolen savings and retirement funds of hardworking Americans, siphoned from our local economy,” Day added.
The Internet crimes that hit Alaskans fell into three categories, according to the FBI.
Investment fraud deceived investors into making purchases based on false information.
Business email compromise, or BEC, targeted businesses and individuals who work with suppliers that perform wire transfer payments. The scams would compromise email accounts, phone numbers and virtual meeting applications in order to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds.
And tech support fraud involved individuals “posing” as technical or customer support service to gain private information.
Last month, the FBI released its annual report on Internet crimes, which found cybercrime cost U.S. citizens nearly $16 billion last year, as phishing, extortion and personal data breaches spiked. Financial losses for 2024 exceeded losses for 2023 by 33%.
“Reporting is one of the first and most important steps in fighting crime so law enforcement can use this information to combat a variety of frauds and scams,” FBI Director Kash Patel said last month.
The FBI urges everyone, no matter the amount of financial loss, to notify all financial institutions involved in the fraudulent transactions and then submit a complaint to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, or ic3.gov.
“To strengthen our collective response to this growing threat, and to help prevent further exploitation and financial harm,” Day said, “we urge residents and businesses to stay vigilant and immediately report online fraud to your financial institution and IC3.”