As our reliance on the internet to work, shop, bank and socialise increases, networks of international cybercriminals lie in wait to exploit any and every opportunity to steal, scam and deceive. Those of us yet to fall victim take comfort in the idea that our governments and law enforcers are equally tireless in responding to this threat. Those less fortunate have found the opposite to be true. In this, the most comprehensive transatlantic study of its kind, we find that the approach of both police and policymakers to tackling cybercrime is so inadequate that it is tantamount to surrender. On both sides of the Atlantic, we find no systematic attempt to combat cyber fraud at scale. We find millions of victims left to deal with feelings of powerlessness, violation and shame alone. We find the quest for justice largely abandoned by forces without the skills or networks to hunt down perpetrators. In the battle to keep our online spaces safe from cybercrime, we are not just losing. We have lost.

Open publication