Bloomington Normal crime report 2/23-27

NORMAL, Ill. – Cybercrimes have become synonymous with the 21st century.  

The FBI defines cybercrimes as any illegal activity involving computers, networked devices or the internet, ranging from targeting networks to using technology to facilitate traditional crime. On Illinois State University’s campus, cybercrimes come in a few, more specific forms. 

“The most prevalent ones that we experience are a lot of scams, so either phishing attacks or things that students or others may unknowingly share their information that results in them suffering a financial loss or reputational loss,” Police Chief Aaron Woodruff said. “We’ve recently had an extortion-type thing based on the sharing of personal photos or other information that can now become an embarrassment for that person.”  

Phishing scams have become increasingly prevalent on college campuses across the United States. This includes ISU’s campus, which sees mass email scams during financial aid and scholarship releases. 

“The old saying is, ‘if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,’” Woodruff said. “Getting paid $10,000 to work from home for two hours a week is probably not a legit thing that you’re just getting some email for. Being aware of those things is the first thing, so that we can prevent it from happening.” 

One piece of the puzzle is increased social media use among college age individuals. This allows scammers greater access to students on campus, even internationally.  

“What we’re seeing now, unfortunately, is AI’s use in creating more realistic phishing attempts,” Woodruff said. “They can mimic people’s voices. They can scrape information from whatever is out there publicly about you, and then and make it seem like you’re getting a more legitimate request for financial information or other information.” 

Woodruff mentioned that every piece of information available through social media can improve AI phishing. This means curating your public information is increasingly important in the internet age.  

Another prominent cybercrime on ISU’s campus is the dissemination of sensitive images and extortion.  

“I know people, unfortunately, feel a lot of shame and guilt when it occurs,” Woodruff said. “The key is, don’t rush to pay off whatever this extortion is, there’s a good chance that it’s not going to result in anything.” 

Woodruff added that in recent years the most prominent group targeted by explicit extortion attacks has shifted from women towards young men. 

“We’ve done a good job of educating young women on trying not to share that type of information, but we haven’t done as good a job as educating young men, and we’re seeing that they’re the ones becoming more prey to this problem,” Woodruff said. 

Not only do these attacks frequently remain unreported to police, but they are also difficult to pursue when reported.  

Many cybercrimes take place across state lines or even internationally. According to Woodruff, forwarding every case to the FBI is not the solution. 

“With the volume of these cases that come up, it can be a challenge,” Woodruff said. “But certainly, if it’s something that we can do, and if we can hold it, whatever, whoever the party is that’s doing it accountable, we’re certainly going to do that. Then, if it is another student, that certainly makes it even easier, because then we have an internal process in addition to the criminal process.” 

The best way to protect yourself from these crimes is through prevention and awareness. 

 Woodruff suggested making social media private, never sharing personal information or financial information online.  

You can stay up to date on phishing scams and cybercrimes by following ISUPD on social media and watching for ISUPD emails.