Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a website and that offers users a standardized mechanism and interface to report suspected cybercrime or other illegal activity facilitated by the Internet. Victims can report on their own behalf, and people can also report crimes on behalf of other individuals.
The IC3 website offers interfaces for reporting internet crime to IC3, reporting terrorism or terrorism threats to the FBI and reporting child-related crime to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). In addition to complaint forms, the site includes a frequently-asked questions (FAQ) list, information about ongoing investigations, crime prevention tips and explanations of such crimes as identity theft, credit card fraud and phishing.
Here's the type of information requested on the complaint form:
- Contact information for the victim.
- Financial information, such as account data, recipient, account and transaction data (for crimes involving theft of money).
- Website, name and contact information for the person who allegedly committed the crime, referred to as the “subject.”
- Details of the crime.
- Email headers.
The IC3 was created in 2000 by a task force including the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Originally called the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), the site was renamed in 2003 to better reflect the broad nature of internet-facilitated crime.