Throughout the 1990s, Americans took to the internet in droves. The decade saw the launch of the first web browsers, the introduction of now ubiquitous search engines, the birth of online commerce, and the ascendance of email as a go-to mode of communication.
As this new landscape bloomed, so did opportunities for criminals. The web offered easy access for cyber actors to target hundreds or even thousands of people at relatively low cost and risk.
When these crimes started occurring more frequently, the public was unsure where to turn for help. “People really didn’t know where to report internet scams or other online fraudulent activity,” said Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Chief Donna Gregory. “And law enforcement agencies were saying: ‘What do we do with these? How do we handle them?’”
Recognizing the need to collect and assess information on cyber crime, the FBI started the Internet Fraud Complaint Center in May 2000 as a pilot project with the National White Collar Crime Center.