According to the most recent FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report, scammers stole $187,621,731 from 11,475 Colorado victims in 2023.
This ranked Colorado seventh in the nation for complaints per capita. The reported losses climbed by about $9 million over the 2022 dollar estimate.
The top three schemes with the highest financial losses in Colorado in 2023 were investment fraud ($60 million), corporate email breach ($57 million), and tech support ($23 million).
The paper exposes key vulnerabilities and emphasizes the need for increased security awareness in the Centennial State.
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The FBI Denver remains committed to collaborating with local law enforcement agencies and community partners to reduce risks and protect Coloradans against fraud.
“Sadly, we routinely see victims from all walks of life whose livelihoods and life savings have been wiped out by scammers,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. “Criminals continue to develop new tricks to defraud people, so think twice before clicking on a link and report suspicious activity to law enforcement.”
In 2023, the IC3 received almost 880,000 complaints, with potential losses totaling $12.5 billion. This represents a roughly 10% increase in complaints over 2022 and a 22% increase in losses, highlighting the gravity of the scams being perpetrated.
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The top three scams reported by victims nationwide were phishing/spoofing, personal data breaches, and non-payment/non-delivery. According to the newly published 2023 IC3 study, victims aged 30 to 49 were the most likely to report losses from investment fraud nationwide, while those over 60 accounted for more than half of losses from tech support scams. Seniors were the most targeted, with over 100,000 complaints filed with the IC3 and alleged losses totaling more than $3 billion.
Ransomware was the most popular scheme across the country in 2023. The IC3 received almost 2,800 ransomware reports, with adjusted losses totaling more than $59.6 million, a 74 percent rise over the previous year.
The most affected essential infrastructure sectors were health care and public health, key manufacturing, and government facilities.
If you feel you have been a victim of a cyber-enabled crime, file a complaint at IC3.gov.
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