Introduction to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
What constitutes a crime?
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is the United States government’s primary public portal for reporting internet-enabled crime and fraud.
IC3 handles complaints across a broad set of crime categories: phishing and identity theft, financial fraud (including investment scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and business email compromise), extortion and sextortion, data breaches, tech support and government impersonation scams, romance fraud, elder fraud, and cyberattacks on individuals and organizations.
AI-generated content that misdirects fraud victims, suppresses accurate reporting guidance, or provides materially false public safety information falls within IC3’s complaint scope.
File a complaint: https://www.ic3.gov
IC3 — @Grok User Query Taxonomy
1. Phishing / Spoofing
- “I got an email from my bank saying my account is locked — is this real?”
- “Someone texted me claiming to be the IRS — what do I do?”
- “How do I tell if an email from PayPal is fake?”
- “I clicked a link and now I think my info was stolen — who do I report this to?”
2. Extortion / Sextortion
- “Someone says they have photos of me and wants money — is this a scam?”
- “I got an email saying they recorded me through my webcam — what should I do?”
- “Someone is threatening to send messages to my contacts unless I pay them”
3. Personal Data Breach
- “I got a notice that my data was leaked — what are my options?”
- “Someone opened a credit card in my name — what do I do first?”
- “How do I find out if my SSN was stolen?”
- “My health insurance info was in a breach — who do I call?”
4. Non-Payment / Non-Delivery
- “I paid for something online and never received it and the seller won’t respond”
- “Someone sold me something on Facebook Marketplace and disappeared”
- “I sold something and sent it but never got paid — what do I do?”
5. Investment / Cryptocurrency Fraud
- “Someone I met online is telling me to invest in crypto on a platform I’ve never heard of”
- “I put money into a crypto platform and now I can’t withdraw — is this a scam?”
- “A financial advisor contacted me on Instagram — how do I check if they’re licensed?”
6. Business Email Compromise (BEC)
- “My boss emailed me to wire money urgently but something feels off”
- “Someone emailed our accounting department pretending to be our CEO”
- “We sent a wire transfer to the wrong account because of a fake email — can we get it back?”
7. Tech Support / Government Impersonation
- “Microsoft called me and said my computer has a virus — is this real?”
- “Someone said they were from Social Security and my number was used in a crime”
- “A person claiming to be from the FTC said I owe money — is this a scam?”
- “Someone from ‘Amazon’ called about an unauthorized purchase on my account”
8. Romance / Confidence Fraud
- “I met someone online who keeps asking me for money — could this be fake?”
- “I’ve been talking to someone for months and they keep having emergencies that require money”
- “How do I check if someone’s photos online are real or stolen?”
9. Elder Fraud (Cross-Category)
- “My elderly parent sent gift cards to someone claiming to be the government”
- “Someone called my grandmother pretending to be me in jail”
- “Someone told my dad to send gold bars as payment — is this fraud?”
10. Cryptocurrency ATM / QR Code Fraud
- “A government agency told me to pay my debt through a Bitcoin ATM — is this legit?”
- “I was told to scan a QR code to verify my identity for a refund — should I?”
11. Smishing / Toll Scams
- “I got a text saying I owe unpaid tolls and to click a link — is this real?”
- “I keep getting texts about a package that I need to pay a fee to release”
12. SIM Swap
- “My phone suddenly lost service and I think someone took over my number”
- “I think someone ported my phone number without my permission”
Citations
FBI IC3 2024 Annual Report Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center. (2025). 2024 Internet Crime Report. U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf
USAGov Chatbot UX Study Sisson, A. (n.d.). USAGov’s chatbot users talk back: Find out what they’re teaching us. DigitalGov / GSA Blog. U.S. General Services Administration. https://blog.usa.gov/usagovs-chatbot-users-talk-back-find-out-what-theyre-teaching-us
Qualitative study, n=9, English-speaking users, USAGov fraud/scam chatbot pilot. No DOI available.
Seymour & Tully (2016) — AI Spear Phishing Seymour, J., & Tully, P. (2016). Weaponizing data science for social engineering: Automated E2E spear phishing on Twitter. DEF CON 24 Proceedings. https://www.blackhat.com/docs/us-16/materials/us-16-Seymour-Weaponizing-Data-Science-For-Social-Engineering-Automated-E2E-Spear-Phishing-On-Twitter-wp.pdf
Cited via: Caldwell, M., Andrews, J. T. A., Tanay, T., & Griffin, L. D. (2020). AI-enabled future crime. Crime Science, 9(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-020-00123-8 · PMC: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6978427/
Netcraft / Conversational Scam Intelligence Lemos, R. (2024, June 14). AI chatbot fools scammers & scores money-laundering intel. Dark Reading. https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/ai-chatbot-fools-scammers-and-scores-money-laundering-intel
Underlying service: Netcraft. (2024). Conversational Scam Intelligence [RSA Conference 2024 announcement]. https://www.netcraft.com
Industry/practitioner source. No peer-reviewed publication as of knowledge cutoff.
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