The FBI investigates everything from terrorism to organized crime but the nation’s largest cybersecurity policing agency in the country also falls under the FBI’s domain. Since 2000, the bureau’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has served as the central hub to receive criminal complaints of cybercrime. Every year the IC3 releases their annual report with includes details of its findings.

As a Managed Service Provider (MSP) responsible for keeping other businesses safe from phishing threats, the facts contained in the 2022 Internet Crime Report should be eye-opening. Certainly, they are worth sharing with your customers and prospects to remind them of the critical role email security plays in their business plans.

Here are 10 facts from the FBI's 2022 Internet Crime Report worth sharing:¹

1. Phishing continues to be the #1 form of cybercrime according to its number of victims. In 2022, phishing claimed more than five times as many victims as the second highest type.
2. Total losses due to cybercrime in 2022 reached an all-time high of $10.2 billion, reflecting an increase of 47.82%
3. Business Email Compromise (BEC) losses totaled $2,742,354,049 and account for the highest average cost of a cybercrime at $125,612 per incident. BEC involves impersonating an executive to initiate the unauthorized transfer of funds. Most often, BEC crimes start with a phishing email from a compromised account.
4. Phishing emails remain a top initial infection vector for ransomware attacks. In 2022, losses associated with ransomware totaled more than $34 million.
5. Data Breaches losses have climbed 356% in just two years. Often initiated with a phishing email, data losses in 2022 totaled more than $459 million.
6. The IC3 receives an average of 2,175 complaints per day, totaling 3.26 million in the last five years.
7. Losses per  incident climbed significantly, though the number of complaints received decreased in 2022 by nearly 47,000. 
8. The five industries hit hardest by ransomware attacks include Healthcare/Public Health, Critical Manufacturing, Government Facilities, Information Technology and Financial Services.
9. The United States has more cybercrime victims than any other country in the world.
10. Cryptocurrency has begun to play a major role in cybercrimes. Fraudsters are frequently utilizing custodial accounts held at financial institutions for cryptocurrency exchanges, or having victims send funds directly to cryptocurrency platforms where funds are quickly dispersed. In 2022, nearly $2.5 billion of the losses suffered involved dealing in cryptocurrency.

Keep Your Customers Safe from Fraud with Industry-Leading Email Security

The numbers behind cybercrime are both alarming and disturbing. While millions of dollars are recovered by law enforcement each year, most of the money is lost. And while the FBI and IC3 teams are to be applauded, the key message here is that prevention is much wiser than recovery. If you want to protect yourself and your customers from making the list of IC3 cybercrime statistics in 2022, consider adding INKY to your suite of offerings.

At INKY, our goal is to help MSPs become more successful. As a leader in email security, INKY has the technology to keep your customers safe from phishing scams, including malware, ransomware, business email compromise, brand impersonations, and more. INKY is easy to deploy, simple to administer, and a profitable way to boost your own revenue.

When you partner with INKY, you become part of a powerful team delivering innovative and compelling technology and solutions to fight email security threats and vulnerabilities. Request an online demonstration today.

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INKY is an award-winning, behavioral email security platform that blocks phishing threats, prevents data leaks, and coaches users to make smart decisions. Like a cybersecurity coach, INKY signals suspicious behaviors with interactive email banners that guide users to take safe action on any device or email client. IT teams don’t face the burden of filtering every email themselves or maintaining multiple systems. Through powerful technology and intuitive user engagement, INKY keeps phishers out for good. Learn why so many companies trust the security of their email to INKY. Request an online demonstration today.

¹Source: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2022_IC3Report.pdf