-
Details
-
Category: Technology
Internet crime schemes that steal millions of dollars each year from victims continue to plague the Internet through various methods.
Internet Crime Prevention Tips
The FBI urges victims to report ransomware incidents to federal law enforcement to help us gain a more comprehensive view of the current threat and its impact on U.S. victims.
What Is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware installed on a computer or server that encrypts the files, making them inaccessible until a specified ransom is paid. Ransomware is typically installed when a user clicks on a malicious link, opens a file in an e-mail that installs the malware, or through drive-by downloads (which does not require user-initiation) from a compromised Web site.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
Following are preventative measures that will assist you in being informed prior to entering into transactions over the Internet:
Prevention - Fraud and scams
Auction Fraud
- Before you bid, contact the seller with any questions you have.
- Review the seller's feedback.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Ensure you understand refund, return, and warranty policies.
- Determine the shipping charges before you buy.
- Be wary if the seller only accepts wire transfers or cash.
- If an escrow service is used, ensure it is legitimate.
- Consider insuring your item.
- Be cautious of unsolicited offers.
Counterfeit Cashier's Check
- Inspect the cashier's check.
- Ensure the amount of the check matches in figures and words.
- Check to see that the account number is not shiny in appearance.
- Be watchful that the drawer's signature is not traced.
- Official checks are generally perforated on at least one side.
- Inspect the check for additions, deletions, or other alterations.
- Contact the financial institution on which the check was drawn to ensure legitimacy.
- Obtain the bank's telephone number from a reliable source, not from the check itself.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
Credit Card Fraud
- Ensure a site is secure and reputable before providing your credit card number online.
- Don't trust a site just because it claims to be secure.
- If purchasing merchandise, ensure it is from a reputable source.
- Promptly reconcile credit card statements to avoid unauthorized charges.
- Do your research to ensure legitimacy of the individual or company.
- Beware of providing credit card information when requested through unsolicited emails.
Debt Elimination
- Know who you are doing business with — do your research.
- Obtain the name, address, and telephone number of the individual or company.
- Research the individual or company to ensure they are authentic.
- Contact the Better Business Bureau to determine the legitimacy of the company.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Ensure you understand all terms and conditions of any agreement.
- Be wary of businesses that operate from P.O. boxes or maildrops.
- Ask for names of other customers of the individual or company and contact them.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
DHL/UPS
- Beware of individuals using the DHL or UPS logo in any email communication.
- Be suspicious when payment is requested by money transfer before the goods will be delivered.
- Remember that DHL and UPS do not generally get involved in directly collecting payment from customers.
- Fees associated with DHL or UPS transactions are only for shipping costs and never for other costs associated with online transactions.
- Contact DHL or UPS to confirm the authenticity of email communications received.
Employment/Business Opportunities
- Be wary of inflated claims of product effectiveness.
- Be cautious of exaggerated claims of possible earnings or profits.
- Beware when money is required up front for instructions or products.
- Be leery when the job posting claims "no experience necessary".
- Do not give your social security number when first interacting with your prospective employer.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Be wary when replying to unsolicited emails for work-at-home employment.
- Research the company to ensure they are authentic.
- Contact the Better Business Bureau to determine the legitimacy of the company.
Escrow Services Fraud
- Always type in the website address yourself rather than clicking on a link provided.
- A legitimate website will be unique and will not duplicate the work of other companies.
- Be cautious when a site requests payment to an "agent", instead of a corporate entity.
- Be leery of escrow sites that only accept wire transfers or e-currency.
- Be watchful of spelling errors, grammar problems, or inconsistent information.
- Beware of sites that have escrow fees that are unreasonably low.
Identity Theft
- Ensure websites are secure prior to submitting your credit card number.
- Do your homework to ensure the business or website is legitimate.
- Attempt to obtain a physical address, rather than a P.O. box or maildrop.
- Never throw away credit card or bank statements in usable form.
- Be aware of missed bills which could indicate your account has been taken over.
- Be cautious of scams requiring you to provide your personal information.
- Never give your credit card number over the phone unless you make the call.
- Monitor your credit statements monthly for any fraudulent activity.
- Report unauthorized transactions to your bank or credit card company as soon as possible.
- Review a copy of your credit report at least once a year.
Internet Extortion
- Security needs to be multi-layered so that numerous obstacles will be in the way of the intruder.
- Ensure security is installed at every possible entry point.
- Identify all machines connected to the Internet and assess the defense that's engaged.
- Identify whether your servers are utilizing any ports that have been known to represent insecurities.
- Ensure you are utilizing the most up-to-date patches for your software.
Investment Fraud
- If the "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is.
- Beware of promises to make fast profits.
- Do not invest in anything unless you understand the deal.
- Don't assume a company is legitimate based on "appearance" of the website.
- Be leery when responding to invesment offers received through unsolicited email.
- Be wary of investments that offer high returns at little or no risk.
- Independently verify the terms of any investment that you intend to make.
- Research the parties involved and the nature of the investment.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Contact the Better Business Bureau to determine the legitimacy of the company.
Lotteries
- If the lottery winnings appear too good to be true, they probably are.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Be leery if you do not remember entering a lottery or contest.
- Be cautious if you receive a telephone call stating you are the winner in a lottery.
- Beware of lotteries that charge a fee prior to delivery of your prize.
- Be wary of demands to send additional money to be eligible for future winnings.
- It is a violation of federal law to play a foreign lottery via mail or phone.
Nigerian Letter or "419"
- If the "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is.
- Do not reply to emails asking for personal banking information.
- Be wary of individuals representing themselves as foreign government officials.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Beware when asked to assist in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
- Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
- Guard your account information carefully.
- Be cautious when additional fees are requested to further the transaction.
Phishing/Spoofing
- Be suspicious of any unsolicited email requesting personal information.
- Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal information.
- Always compare the link in the email to the link that you are actually directed to.
- Log on to the official website, instead of "linking" to it from an unsolicited email.
- Contact the actual business that supposedly sent the email to verify if the email is genuine.
Ponzi/Pyramid
- If the "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is.
- Beware of promises to make fast profits.
- Exercise diligence in selecting investments.
- Be vigilant in researching with whom you choose to invest.
- Make sure you fully understand the investment prior to investing.
- Be wary when you are required to bring in subsequent investors.
- Independently verify the legitimacy of any investment.
- Beware of references given by the promoter.
Reshipping
- Be cautious if you are asked to ship packages to an "overseas home office."
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Be leery if the individual states that his country will not allow direct business shipments from the United States.
- Be wary if the "ship to" address is yours but the name on the package is not.
- Never provide your personal information to strangers in a chatroom.
- Don't accept packages that you didn't order.
- If you receive packages that you didn't order, either refuse them upon delivery or contact the company where the package is from.
Spam
- Do not open spam. Delete it unread.
- Never respond to spam as this will confirm to the sender that it is a "live" email address.
- Have a primary and secondary email address - one for people you know and one for all other purposes.
- Avoid giving out your email address unless you know how it will be used.
- Never buy anything advertised through an unsolicited email.
Third Party Receiver of Funds
- Do not agree to accept and wire payments for auctions that you did not post.
- Be leery if the individual states that his country makes receiving these types of funds difficult.
- Be cautious when the job posting claims "no experience necessary".
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
Millennials are 25% more likely to report losing money to fraud than other adults (age 40 and over), and much more likely to tell us they lost money on certain types of fraud. Online shopping frauds stand out – Millennials are twice as likely to report losing money on items that are never delivered or not as advertised. They are also far more likely to report losses on frauds promising ways to make money or fixes for debt-related problems.
How else are Millennials different? The amount of money they report losing is one key difference. Even though Millennials are more likely to report losing money, their median individual reported loss of $400 is much lower than what other age groups report.
Public Downloads
All items are free to view, share, and download.
Public Downloads - Español (Spanish)
When available, we provide all our content with a Spanish version in our public download section. You can find additional material from sources listed in all our articles.
Download Prevention Video Tips, Activity Sheets, Information, and Resources
Ad Hype True or False
DownloadSize 17 MB
Annual Credit Report
DownloadSize 6.29 MB
Auction Action Game
DownloadSize 6.45 MB
Back It Up Do Not Lose Your Digital Life Video
DownloadSize 18.03 MB
Beware of Spyware Game
DownloadSize 4.9 MB
Charity Scams After a Disaster
DownloadSize 12.53 MB
Chatting with Kids About Being Online Video
DownloadSize 32.55 MB
Common online scams
DownloadSize 83.7 KB
Complying with The Funeral Rule
DownloadSize 10.05 MB
Computer Security Video
DownloadSize 11.21 MB
Cybersecurity Basics
DownloadSize 6.1 MB
Every Community Family Emergency Scam
DownloadSize 29.42 MB
Five Ways to Help Protect Your Identity
DownloadSize 9.23 MB
Follywood Squares Game
DownloadSize 9.79 MB
Fraud Watch Preventing Robocall Scams
DownloadSize 3.05 MB
Hacked Email What to Do Video
DownloadSize 22.06 MB
Hate Robocall Scams
DownloadSize 28.96 MB
Heads Up Stop Think Click
DownloadSize 7.01 MB
Hijacked Computer What to Do Video
DownloadSize 12.08 MB
How to Avoid a Tech Support Scam
DownloadSize 26.77 MB
How to Block Unwanted Calls Landline
DownloadSize 660.01 KB
How to Block Unwanted Calls VOIP
DownloadSize 677.82 KB
How to File a Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 19.92 MB
How to Stop Calls from Fake Numbers
DownloadSize 7.93 MB
How to Stop Calls on My Home Phone
DownloadSize 14.16 MB
How to Stop Calls on My Mobile Phone
DownloadSize 13.2 MB
How to Stop Unwanted Calls on a Mobile Phone
DownloadSize 651.13 KB
ID Theft FaceOff Game
DownloadSize 16.15 MB
Identity Theft B-roll
DownloadSize 19.79 MB
Infographic Caller ID Spoofing
DownloadSize 91.88 KB
Infographic Robocalling
DownloadSize 108.05 KB
Invasion of the Wireless Hackers Game
DownloadSize 1.64 MB
IRS Imposter Scams
DownloadSize 10.72 MB
Keep Your Security Current
DownloadSize 16 MB
Laptop Security Game
DownloadSize 9.6 MB
Make Your Donations Count
DownloadSize 14.94 MB
Money Transfer Scams
DownloadSize 35.03 MB
Net Cetera Presentation: Kids Online Safety
DownloadSize 1000.55 KB
Online Reviews and Recommendations Video
DownloadSize 12.76 MB
Online Shopping Tips Video
DownloadSize 22.41 MB
Operation Empty Promises Job and Business Opportunity Scams
DownloadSize 50.42 MB
P2P Threeplay Game
DownloadSize 11.94 MB
Peer to Peer File Sharing
DownloadSize 40.98 MB
Phishing Scams Game
DownloadSize 9.49 MB
Phishy Office Video
DownloadSize 10.84 MB
Phishy Store Video
DownloadSize 12.35 MB
Protect Your Computer from Malware Video
DownloadSize 22.05 MB
Protecting Personal Information
DownloadSize 5.29 MB
Public Wi-Fi Networks Video
DownloadSize 18.44 MB
Ransomware - Cybersecurity
DownloadSize 7.07 MB
Report Gift Cards Used in a Scam
DownloadSize 8.54 MB
Reporting Cyber Crime is as Easy as IC3
DownloadSize 3.41 MB
Robocall Preventing Scams
DownloadSize 3.05 MB
Robocalls All the Rage
DownloadSize 7.65 MB
Robocalls Gone Wrong
DownloadSize 17.92 MB
Scams Against Immigrants
DownloadSize 74.81 MB
Scams Against Your Small Business
DownloadSize 6.49 MB
Secure Devices and Paper
DownloadSize 18.56 MB
Secure Remote Access
DownloadSize 22.32 MB
Share with Care Video
DownloadSize 7.57 MB
Sharing Information A Day in Your Life
DownloadSize 5.39 MB
Shopping for Light Bulbs
DownloadSize 8.3 MB
Spam Scam Slam Game
DownloadSize 7.95 MB
Stand Up to Cyberbullying Video
DownloadSize 11.21 MB
Stop Phishing By Using Email Authentication
DownloadSize 17.15 MB
Stop Veteran Charity Scams
DownloadSize 5.97 MB
Stop Veteran Charity Scams - Open Captions
DownloadSize 19.88 MB
Tech Support Scam - Undercover Investigation
DownloadSize 5.54 MB
The Case of the Cyber Criminal Game
DownloadSize 5.93 MB
The Protection Connection Video
DownloadSize 7.7 MB
The Truth About Medical Discount Plans
DownloadSize 19.1 MB
Transcript for the OnGuard Online series
DownloadSize 622.45 KB
What to Do if You Get a Robocall
DownloadSize 21.64 MB
Why Care About Identity Theft
DownloadSize 7.01 MB
Wireless Security Video
DownloadSize 4.73 MB
Download Consumer Literacy for Kids Activity Sheets, Information, and Resources
10 Things You Can Do to Avoid Fraud
DownloadSize 265.73 KB
10 Things You Can Do to Avoid Fraud - Spanish
DownloadSize 268.82 KB
About the FTC Fact Sheet
DownloadSize 604.71 KB
Ad Hype True or False Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 19.18 MB
Ad Library Fictional Sample Choco Crunch n' Good Cereal Package
DownloadSize 1.18 MB
Admongo Banner Logo 250x250
DownloadSize 20.12 KB
Admongo Banner Sleuth Badge 336x280
DownloadSize 25.32 KB
Admongo Flyer 8.5x11
DownloadSize 5.67 MB
Admongo FTC Bonus Activies Family Handouts Packet
DownloadSize 4.58 MB
Admongo FTC Lesson Plans Student Worksheets Packet
DownloadSize 17.24 MB
Admongo Logo Building
DownloadSize 1.06 MB
Admongo Video Ad Techniques Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 23.74 MB
Admongo Video In Action Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 6.74 MB
Admongo Video Introduction for Teachers Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 8.49 MB
Admongo Video What is the Message Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 12.14 MB
Admongo Video What is the Purpose of this Ad Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 10.38 MB
Admongo Video Who is Responsible Federal Trade Commission
DownloadSize 16.39 MB
Admongo Wallpaper 1024x768
DownloadSize 203.9 KB
Be a Smart Shopper Best Buy Activity Worksheets
DownloadSize 2.63 MB
Consumer Action Internet Safety Lesson Plan and Activities
DownloadSize 306.66 KB
Consumer Stuff for Kids a Teaching and Learning Resource
DownloadSize 6.16 MB
Download Consumer Information and Resources
10 Tips for Better Credit Infographic
DownloadSize 1.85 MB
AAA Green Car Guide
DownloadSize 86.32 MB
Are You Too Young To Read This
DownloadSize 534.08 KB
Consumer Action Handbook
DownloadSize 3.55 MB
Consumer Action Handbook - Spanish
DownloadSize 2.06 MB
Consumer Action Handbook Information Video
DownloadSize 4.69 MB
Consumer Action Handbook- National Consumer Protection Video
DownloadSize 3.78 MB
Consumer Action Internet Safety Lesson Plan and Activities
DownloadSize 305.16 KB
Consumer Information Catalog
DownloadSize 347.57 KB
Consumer Stuff for Kids a Teaching and Learning Resource
HOTDownloadSize 6.16 MB
Free Annual Credit Report Information
DownloadSize 238.66 KB
Free Computer Basics Tutorials
DownloadSize 72.99 KB
Free Computer Basics Tutorials
DownloadSize 47.77 KB
Free Internet Tutorials
DownloadSize 168.84 KB
Free Internet Tutorials
DownloadSize 95.65 KB
Free Microsoft Office Tutorials
DownloadSize 173.96 KB
Free Microsoft Office Tutorials
DownloadSize 116.49 KB
Free Repair Manuals
DownloadSize 77.3 KB
Free Technology Buying Guide Tutorials
DownloadSize 125.16 KB
Free Technology Buying Guide Tutorials
DownloadSize 71.07 KB
Holiday Toy Safety
HOTDownloadSize 3.33 MB
Identifying Needs and Wants
DownloadSize 217.8 KB
Kids Online Safety
DownloadSize 658.75 KB
Read the Fine Print
DownloadSize 123.19 KB
Story of Stuff Fact Sheet
DownloadSize 147.64 KB
Ultimate Chart of Computer Connectors and Ports
DownloadSize 754.11 KB
Ultimate Chart of Computer Connectors and Ports
DownloadSize 466.81 KB
You Are Here Poster
DownloadSize 1.93 MB
Video Playlist: Consumer Online Security
