An Examination of Cybercrime Trends Within the United States: Findings From the Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2015–2024
摘要
Cybercrime is becoming increasingly prevalent and consequential, commensurate with greater use of technology in society. However, reports of cybercrime trends over recent years are limited in scope, leaving knowledge of larger-scale trends unclear. Further, examinations of cybercrime trends often fail to consider contemporary taxonomies and typologies identified in the relevant literature. Using data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) from 2015 to 2024, the current study conducted a national-level trend analysis of cybercrime complaints and financial losses. Trends of overall cybercrime, taxonomic cybercrime (i.e., cyber-enabled vs. cyber-dependent), and cybercrime typologies (e.g., economic, psychosocial, and geopolitical) were examined. The findings suggested cyber-enabled crime experienced significant growth in 2020, while cyber-dependent crime was generally less prevalent and remained stable over time. Further, losses from cyber-dependent crime far outpaced losses from cyber-enabled crime, suggesting the importance of promoting criminal justice interventions against these forms of crime. Additionally, the findings highlight socioeconomic cybercrime as consistently more prevalent than psychosocial and geopolitical cybercrime, both in terms of number of complaints and financial losses. Overall, the results illustrate the importance of consistent cybercrime tracking at the state- and national-levels as well as the need for far-reaching preventative and responsive efforts.