The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is responsible for publishing the report, fielded complaints from 5,426 victims in the state, according to a Tuesday FBI press release.
The report shows South Carolina ranked 27th among the states with the highest number of cyber crime victims in 2021. California had the most number of victims 67,095, while North Dakota had the least at 670 victims.
South Carolina ranked a little lower at 29th in terms of states that saw the most losses from cyber crime. Again, California ranked highest at more than $1.2 billion but Maine was the lowest at more than $7.2 million in losses.
Americans lost a total of $6.9 billion to cyber crime last year, a $2.7 billion increase from 2020.
The top three scheme categories with the largest financial losses were business email compromise ($17.2 million), confidence/romance scams ($6.8 million), and tech support scams ($4.6 million).
The senior population continues to be impacted most by scams. The report shows victims 60 years old and older lost the most money to scams with $15.7 million in losses nationwide.
The FBI analyzes and investigates reporting to track the trends and threats from cyber criminals and then shares the data with intelligence and law enforcement partners.
The FBI encourages victims to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center if they believe they have been the victim of an internet crime, or if they want to file on behalf of another person, who they believe has been a victim. Early reporting allows the FBI to be effective in ensuring consequences are imposed on those perpetrating these attacks and helps to understand these threats more completely.
© 2022 The State (Columbia, S.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
