ATLANTA — The Federal Bureau of Investigation released its Internet Crime Report for 2024, showing how much Americans were hit by cybercrimes.
The FBI said Georgians potentially lost $420 million, a 40% increase compared to 2023.
The agency said criminals continue to target elderly Americans at a high rate, with complaints by seniors in Georgia up 71% year-over-year in 2024.
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In terms of dollars, losses rose 89%.
Among the state’s seniors, $174 million was lost, according to the FBI.
Crimes involving cryptocurrency also rose, more than doubling in 2024. The FBI said there were 1,590 cryptocurrency-related crimes in 2023 but 3,533 in 2024.
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That’s a 122% increase, the agency said.
From cryptocurrency-related crimes, the FBI said Georgians lost $197.65 million in the past year, a 66% increase compared to 2023.
“While the top threats facing Georgia and the nation from cyber criminals and fraudsters continue to evolve, their main goal remains stealing your hard-earned money,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “The cornerstone of the FBI’s mission remains to protect American citizens. The men and women of FBI Atlanta will not stop working to prevent losses and minimize the harm to Georgia residents.”
The FBI said the top three cybercrimes in 2024 were phishing/spoofing, extortion and personal data breaches, and that cryptocurrency-related losses were higher than any other category.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna was at an FBI briefing, where agents reminded people that they should be wary of potential scammers.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr was also there, where he said the transactions involved in some of these types of fraud were in residents’ hands and that they needed to be careful and trust their ins tinct if something felt strange.
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