ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – More than 2,600 New Mexico victims of internet scams reported losing almost $13 million in 2021, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The latest IC3 annual report listed 2,644 victims in New Mexico, with total losses of $12,761,850.
Business email compromise (BEC)/email account compromise scams accounted for $2.7 million in losses, followed by confidence fraud/romance scams at almost $2 million.
“This report should be a wake-up call for everyone who uses the internet,” said Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the Albuquerque FBI Division. “What is particularly heart-breaking is the large number of our older New Mexico residents who were victimized. The FBI is working overtime to identify and stop these scammers, but the public can help us by immediately reporting suspected criminal internet activity to ic3.gov.”
According to IC3, New Mexico residents older than 60 made up the largest share of victims and losses by age group: 671 victims reported $5,599,703 in losses.
New Mexico’s 2021 total numbers show a notable decrease from the previous year, with an almost 50 percent reduction in losses.
In 2020, 3,427 victims in New Mexico reported $23,903,594 in losses.
Part of the decrease is attributable to the reduction in BEC losses. In 2020, that scam accounted for more than $9.9 million in losses.
Nationally, the 2021 report includes information from 847,376 complaints of suspected internet crime – a 7 percent increase…
