MGN It comes as no surprise: Cybercrime is up – by a lot, with more than $4 billion in losses nationwide. The FBI’s Internet Crime Center’s 2020 report ranked Florida second in the country for internet crimes, with about 54,000 complaints submitted and losses nearing $300 million. And a lot of people never even file a complaint. The three most common crimes are business email compromise, phishing scams, and ransomware, but 2020 brought us a whole new line of scams related to the pandemic; everything from how to find nonexistent personal protective equipment to jump to the front of a vaccine line. Another factor affecting Florida: scammers often target the older population, using romance, tech, grandparent and government impersonation scams, like the fake call from Social Security. It has gotten so bad that next year, the FBI is going to do a separate report focusing on just elder fraud. Remember, the scammers are targeting your personal information and banking information for your identity and your money. There is plenty of information available online on how to avoid being scammed and help if you’ve already fallen victim. RESOURCES Identity Theft Recovery Online Safety 2020 Internet Crime Report 2020 Internet Crime Report – Florida