The US Ambassy in Bucharest: Romanian cybercriminals steal $1 billion every year by hacking American computers

Worldwide, individuals and businesses lose around $397 billion a year due to hacking, according to Europol. The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest has estimated that Romanian cybercriminals only steal $1 billion every year by hacking American computers, as related in an USA Today article.

Police in Romania indeed report that 80% of the cyber attacks originating from Romania target American citizens and companies. Romania investigators say there were about 1,000 cases of cybercrime in 2012. Police in Ramnicu Valcea, a town of 120,000 people, say every year they arrest around 100 people on cybercrime charges. Virgil Spiridon, the head of the Romanian National Police’s Cybercrime Unit, say the cases take years to litigate because of the difficulty in catching sophisticated hackers.

The scams tend to involve Americans who share financial and personal information with people they think are legitimate sellers of products. Common schemes include the selling of fake cars and computers or „skimming” — getting someone to reveal financial and password information that is used to fabricate an ATM card and drain a victim’s bank account or rack up charges on a credit card.

„Credit card and internet fraud remain among the most common crimes affecting foreigners in Romania,” the U.S. Embassy website warns travelers to Romania.
Source: www.usatoday.com