Report cyber crime regardless of loss

Rice County citizens regularly call my office, fearing they have been the victim of a financial crime or identity theft on the Internet.

These callers are typically referred to their local police department, the Rice County Sheriff’s department and the state and national organizations I am discussing today.
Locally, law enforcement officers will complete a report of the crime, decide how to best investigate the matter and send a report of the crime to Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force (MNFCTF).

The MNFCTF is comprised of local, state and federal agencies – led by the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension – that investigates financial crimes related to identity theft. This Minnesota task force has received international awards for their investigations into massive identity theft and fraud rings.

With identity theft becoming more and more sophisticated, local and state police and prosecutorial offices often reach out to the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C.) The NW3C is a non-profit organization offering a national support system for the “prevention, investigation and prosecution of economic and high-tech crime.” The NW3C offers training and investigative support services to local agencies like Rice County.

The NW3C, along with the FBI, operates the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.) The IC3 is a resource for law enforcement and victims. The IC3 allows local law enforcement agencies to share information and pursue cases that cross jurisdictional boundaries. For victims, the IC3 provides an accessible reporting mechanism that alerts authorities to suspected crimes. Basically, the IC3 compiles the complaints it receives into an extensive database, analyzes and collates the complaints, and then alerts appropriate law enforcement agencies of crimes and trends. Making a report of suspected Internet crimes to the IC3 is as easy as entering a complaint online at www.ic3.gov.