Reporting fraud online is crucial to helping everyone fight fraud. There are several useful resources available for you to report fraud online. Thankfully, this process is easy for you to do. In this article, I’m going to share the top 3 online reporting sites available. Let’s jump right in!

Why should you report fraud online?

Fraud is significantly under-reported. Why is this a problem for everyone? Not reporting fraud effects our statistics and ability to identify fraud trends. Additionally, if you don’t report fraud it allows fraudsters to keep scheming. This is exactly why you should always report fraud. You may feel like the information you have from a scam is insignificant, but it makes a huge difference when you report it.

What types of fraud can be reported?

You can report nearly every type of fraud online via the resources below. Each of these resources do have specific reporting guidelines. So, it is important for you to read their requirements prior to submitting any online reports.

Finally, here are the top 3 resources for reporting fraud online. I’ve also designed a little infographic for your reference.

IC3

You can report any internet based crimes online to IC3 via their online reporting form. IC3’s online reports may be forwarded to law enforcement, or federal agencies depending on the appropriate jurisdiction. IC3 defines an internet crime as any illegal activity that involves the internet (websites, chat rooms, etc…). Internet crimes could also included things such as computer hacking or intrusion.

Anti-phishing Work Group (APWG)

The APWG is a great resource for you to report all of those annoying phishing emails. You can read more about the APWG below:

“The APWG collects, analyzes, and exchanges lists of verified credential collection sites, like those used in phishing. If you have received a suspicious or obviously malicious email you can forward those to APWG for analysis.

The best way to do this is to simply forward the suspected phishing email to reportphishing@apwg.org. If your email clients supports the option to “Forward As Attachment” this will provide our systems more details for tracking. Forwarding suspected phishing emails to APWG contributes to fraud and crime prevention services to protect users and track criminal activity.”

You can read more information about the APWG on their website. 

FTC.gov

ReportFraud.ftc.gov is the federal government’s website where you can report fraud, scams, and bad business practices online. This is a great resource for you to report nearly every type of fraud. Additionally, your report is shared with 3,000+ law enforcement agencies which significantly increases the odds of the fraudster getting caught.

You can also visit consumer.ftc.gov to find tips and learn how to avoid scams.

Wrapping up how to report fraud online

To briefly recap, reporting fraud online is extremely important in order to improve fraud awareness. Lastly, if you would like to check out other great resources for reporting fraud online, please visit our resources page.