Editing Internet fraud (section)

{{Short description|Fraud or deception using the Internet}}
'''Internet fraud''' is a type of [[cybercrime]] [[fraud]] or deception which makes use of the [[Internet]] and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Internet fraud is not considered a single, distinctive crime but covers a range of illegal and illicit actions that are committed in [[cyberspace]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ED9XDwAAQBAJ&q=internet+fraud+definition&pg=PT1125|title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet|last=Warf|first=Barney|date=2018-05-16|publisher=SAGE|isbn=9781526450432|language=en}}</ref> It is differentiated from [[theft]] since, in this case, the victim voluntarily and knowingly provides the information, money or property to the perpetrator.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p31MCAAAQBAJ&q=internet+fraud+different+theft+voluntary&pg=PT33|title=Cyberthreats: The Emerging Fault Lines of the Nation State|last=Brenner|first=Susan W.|date=2009-01-16|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] (OUP) |isbn=9780190452568|language=en}}</ref> It is also distinguished by the way it involves temporally and spatially separated offenders.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention|last1=Fisher|first1=Bonnie S.|last2=Lab|first2=Steven|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2010|isbn=9781412960472|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|pages=493}}</ref> The most common [[cybercrime]]s involving the internet fraud increasingly entail the [[Social engineering (security)|social engineering]], [[phishing]], [[Cryptocurrency and crime|cryptocurrency frauds]], [[romance scam]]s including the [[pig butchering scam]], etc

In the [[FBI]]'s 2017 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received about 300,000 complaints. Victims lost over $1.4 billion in online fraud in 2017.<ref name="FBI 2017 ICR">{{cite web |title=FBI 2017 Internet Crime Report |url=https://pdf.ic3.gov/2017_IC3Report.pdf |website=FBI.gov |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |access-date=28 August 2018 |date=May 7, 2018}}</ref> In a 2018 study by the [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]] (CSIS) and [[McAfee]], cybercrime costs the global economy as much as $600 billion, which translates into 0.8% of global GDP.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/assets/executive-summaries/es-economic-impact-cybercrime.pdf|title=The Economic Impact of Cybercrime— No Slowing Down|date=2018|website=McAfee|access-date=October 24, 2018}}</ref> Online fraud appears in many forms. It ranges from email spam to online scams. Internet fraud can occur even if partly based on the use of Internet services and is mostly or completely based on the use of the Internet.