Pandemic Puts Internet Crime on the Rise.

Florida and Illinois have emerged as new hotbeds for Internet crime, though California continues to lead the nation with the largest online fraud victim losses and number of victims, according to research from Florida Atlantic University's College of Business.

The report, based on crime data from the FBI, also shows large growth in technical support and nonpayment/nondelivery scams, which likely were the result of a surge in online shopping during the pandemic.

Online victim losses in California grew eight percent to $621,400,000, while the number of victims in the Golden State increased by 39% to nearly 70,000. Meanwhile, Florida had the largest populationadjusted victim rate of 2,475 per 1,000,000 people. The Sunshine State had the second-highest number of victims at 53,-793, a 98% increase, while Illinois had a 95% increase.

The report identified California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Texas as the top six states for Internet crime. Illinois replaced Washington from last year's report. "Online criminals did not take a break during the pandemic," says Michael Crain, director of FAU's Center for Forensic Accounting.

Internet crime continues to be a large and growing problem mainly because we are so connected online. Organizations and individuals are at risk as technology and governments alone cannot prevent online crime. The first line of defense is user awareness when clicking on links and opening email messages.

When it comes to the different types of online crime, business email compromise/email account compromise (BEC/EAC) remains the top Internet scam, with reported victim losses of $1,900,000,000, followed by confidence fraud/romance scams ($600,000,000).

BEC/EAC is when business or personal email accounts are hacked or spoofed with the purpose of diverting and requesting electronic wire transfers to fraudulent money accounts. In confidence fraud/romance, an online scammer pretends to be in a friendly, romantic...