By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
With more business being conducted online and remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, the increased dependence on technology has been a boon for cyber criminals.
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said criminals “took advantage of an opportunity to profit,” from this trend to go on an “internet crime spree.”
Abbate made the comment in the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s recently released 2020 Internet Crime Report. The center indicated it received a record number of complaints from Americans last year (791,790) with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion. It was an increase of more than 300,000 complaints compared to 2019. Complaints ranged from phishing scams to compromised emails, extortion and ransomware.