U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Press Release

May 22, 2006

FBI Special Agent in Charge, Weysan Dun, Springfield Division , in coordination with 15 local, state and federal agencies from the St. Louis Metro East area, , is proud to announce the creation of the Metro East Cyber Crime & Analysis (MCCA) Task Force. Numerous area law enforcement agencies are participating in the Cyber Crimes Task Force and have devoted resources and expertise to MCCA, including:

• Alton Police Department;
• Belleville Police Department;
• Clinton County Sheriff’s Department;
• Collinsville Police Department;
• Columbia Police Department;
• Defense Criminal Investigative Service;
• Federal Bureau of Investigation;
• Glen Carbon Police Department;
• Granite City Police Department;
• Illinois Department of Corrections;
• Madison County Sheriff’s Department;
• O’Fallon Police Department;
• SIUE Police Department;
• St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department;
• United States Postal Inspection Service;
• Waterloo Police Department.

The Task Force is designed to strengthen and enhance the law enforcement response to cyber crime. By combining specialized resources and sharing intelligence, expertise, and training opportunities, agencies may more effectively and efficiently combat this growing crime problem which is not restricted by jurisdictional boundaries. The FBI currently operates 94 Cyber Crimes Task Forces throughout the country.

The new Cyber Crimes Task Force will tackle a variety of cyber based investigations, such as computer intrusions (hacking), infringement of intellectual property rights, economic espionage, extortion, money laundering, organized criminal enterprises engaging in internet fraud, and the sexual exploitation of children.

Cyber crime complaints have been steadily increasing over the last five years. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC 3) was established in May, 2000, as a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. IC3 serves as a centralized complaint center for internet related criminal complaints. IC3 receives, researches and refers cyber criminal complaints to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement agencies and/or regulatory agencies. IC3 received 231,493 internet related complaints in 2005, representing an 11.6% increase over 2004. These complaints were composed of a variety of fraud related matters, including auction fraud and credit card fraud, as well as non-fraud related matters, including computer intrusions, spam, and child pornography.

Cyber related criminal complaints may be referred to MCCA, at (618)397-4401, or the Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3, at www.IC3.gov.

The Springfield Division of the FBI will be hosting an open house for all of the law enforcement agencies participating in the new Metro East Cyber Crime & Analysis Task Force on Tuesday, 05/23/2006, at 10:00 a.m. at the Fairview Heights FBI Office, 6701 North Illinois, Third Floor, Fairview Heights, Illinois. Media outlets are welcome to attend the open house and view the new MCCA office space and speak with representatives from the participating agencies.

Contact:

Supervisory Special Agent/Media Coordinator
Marshall Stone
(217)522-9675