Forensic Data

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University of Phoenix *

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587

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Business

Date

Jan 9, 2024

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docx

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8

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1 Forensic Data Sarah Byrd University of Phoenix AJS/587: Contemporary Issues in Investigative Methodologies Professor Leonald Robinson December 18, 2023
2 COVID-19 and Cybercrimes Despite the passage of many years, 2020 remains unforgettable. Between COVID-19, everything shutting down, and the increase of cybercrimes, 2020 has gone down in history. The COVID-19 pandemic affected millions of Americans emotionally, mentally, and financially. Many people had to rely on technology and the cyberworld to try to continue living life the best they could. During this pandemic, the cybercrime went up drastically. “In 2020, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 28,500 complaints related to COVID-19” (FBI, Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2020). Cybercriminals took advantage of individuals and businesses during this time by targeting and exploiting them. Complaints 2016 vs 2020 According to the IC3, phishing emails were the highest crime in 2020, with 241,342 victims. The other crimes consist of non-payment/non-delivery, extortion, personal data breach, and identity theft. Altogether, there were 472,282 cybercrime victims in 2020, which is 162,091 more than in 2016. “Victims lost the most money to business email compromise scams, romance and confidence schemes, and investment fraud” (FBI, 2021). Many victims were unaware that they were being targeted until it was too late. Top Five Crimes The five top crimes from 2016 to 2020 were phishing emails, non-payment/non-delivery, extortion, personal data breach, and identity theft. “Phishing schemes often use spoofing techniques to lure you in and get you to take the bait” (FBI, n.d.). Cybercriminals will send a fake email disguised as something that looks familiar. A victim will click on the link thinking that it is a safe link, but your computer has become attacked. Once clicked, the link will send you
3 to a website that will ask for personal information. Phishing attackers may utilize other techniques such as vishing (voice scams via phone), smishing (scams via text messages), and pharming (installing malicious code). The second top crime was the non-payment/non-delivery scam. “In a non-delivery scam, a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but those items are never received. A non- payment scam involves goods or services being shipped, but the seller is never paid” (FBI, 2023). These scams are happening around the holidays when many people are online shopping. However, this scam had 108, 869 victims in 2020 due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, this scam happens quite frequently on social media when exchanging money for a certain item. Extortion has increased during 2020 from previous years. This is the third top cybercrime with 76,741 victims. Cyber extortion is when someone threatens and demands money from the victim. “Cyber extortion continues to gain traction as a multi-million-dollar criminal industry” (Center for Internet Security, n.d.). Cybercriminals have gotten very sneaky when it comes to getting what they want at someone else’s expense. Data breaches are another cyber scam that has gone up with the negative effects of COVID-19. “A data breach can be defined as the unlawful and unauthorized acquisition of personal information that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information” (National Association of Attorney’s General, n.d.). Personal information is their name, social security number, driver’s license number, or banking information. When a company or business has a data breach, they are required by law to notify consumers. While identity theft is not something new, it went on the rise in 2020. “Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal or financial information without your permission”
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