What Are Cybercrime and Online Fraud?

Cybercrime and online fraud are any illegal activities involving the internet, such as websites, chat rooms, email, and social media accounts. These crimes involve the use of the internet to communicate false or fraudulent representations to individuals and businesses. These crimes may include, but are not limited to advance-fee schemes, non-delivery of goods or services, or computer hacking or employment / business opportunity schemes.

A cybercrime can cause great financial and emotional harm to anyone. Small businesses, senior citizens, military members, veterans, young adults, teens, and children, along with their families, can be particularly vulnerable to a cybercrime. FightCybercrime.org has resources for anyone in the United States impacted by cybercrime.

Community Resources

Simple Rules to Stay Safe

If an offer or opportunity seems too good to be true, it's probably a scam.

Never wire money, send gift cards, or send a check to a stranger.

If someone claims to be from a federal agency, call the office to confirm.

Never accept money from a stranger promising you can keep some of it.

If you suspect you've been hacked, change your passwords immediately.

Please Select The Incident That best Describes Your Situation:


Financial / purchase scams are common and come in many forms. In these types of scams, you lose money when paying for something you never get, invest in a fake company or program, are promised help with debt that doesn’t come, or send money in advance with a promise for a big payout.


Includes attacks on computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. If you have noticed any unfamiliar activity on your computer, smartphone, tablet, email or social media accounts, someone may have gained access and be using your device or account without your permission.


Fraudsters contact individuals by email, text, phone, or other methods and pretend to be a public, private, or government individual who demands some type of financial payment to resolve an issue, or pretend to be a friend or loved one in trouble who needs money immediately.


Identity theft happens when someone steals your personal information to fraudulently apply for credit, take over your bank account, file taxes, obtain medical services, or to impersonate you in other ways. Everyone is vulnerable to identity theft, including children, seniors, and military individuals.


Although bullying, harassment, and stalking remain highly invasive, destructive, and devastating in-person crimes, the bullies can reach you online too, with email, phones, text messages, instant messaging, social media and defamatory websites.


Includes data breach, business email compromise (BEC), ransomware, malware, phishing, hacked website, tax scams, business Identity theft, money transfer fraud, and business loan scams.

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Threat actors continuously change their ransomware’s techniques, disguises, and tools to maximize their chances of success and keep their edge in a shifting technological landscape. We discuss what ransomware is, its history, and current tactics here: https://bit.ly/3qxoj9C

Watch @HomelandDems Cybersecurity Subcommittee’s hearing on ransomware now: http://homeland.house.gov/activities/hearings/responding-to-ransomware-exploring-policy-solutions-to-a-cybersecurity-crisis

You and your users have probably received a smishing attack before. But why should you care about them? @rogeragrimes, Data-Driven Defense Evangelist at KnowBe4, answers this question on our blog. https://bit.ly/3aRKilX