New Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit will fight illegal online activity in Florida

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the state's first ever Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit, aimed at fighting illegal online activity in Florida.

During a news conference Tuesday at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's office in Tampa, Moody discussed the need for the unit.

"As online crime increases, the enforcement gap continues to grow as federal agencies often focus attention on cases involving multimillion-dollar losses," Moody said. "Noticing this gap in enforcement, I worked with legislative leaders and our law enforcement partners to build a team of expert attorneys to help fill that void and protect Floridians from emerging high-tech schemes."

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, more than 42,000 Floridians lost a combined total of more than $844 million to cyber crime last year. Additionally, 47% of Americans have had their personal information exposed by cyber criminals.

The unit is made up of local law enforcement, FDLE members, state prosecutors, along with civil attorneys and analysts.

"These analysts are on the front lines researching cyber crime and criminal organizations, identifying the players, learning how these crimes work and who is being victimized," explained Mark Brutnell, FDLE-Tampa's Special Agent in Charge.

Recent data breeches at ZooTampa and HCA Healthcare have kept federal investigators busy. Both organizations are looking into the extent of the data exposure and who was impacted.

Individuals and businesses have been the targets of cyber crimes.

RELATED: ZooTampa and HCA Healthcare victims of cyberattacks

Moody explained how large-scale breeches can lead to smaller, individualized crimes.

"A lot of our cases will result from incidents like that, meaning a lot of the criminals will get their hands on personal identification information, Social Security numbers, credit card information. That information is compiled bundled on the dark web and sold to criminals," she said, adding that the unit will focus on local businesses and individuals impacted by cyber crimes who may have been overlooked by federal investigators who are looking into larger cases. 

RELATED: HCA Healthcare data breach affects millions, including Florida hospitals

The new unit made up of local law enforcement, FDLE members, state prosecutors, along with civil attorneys and analysts has already had some success with catching online crimes.

"The federal government was taking on a bulk of those complex cybersecurity investigations. And oftentimes because of the demand for resources, the larger cases got a lot of the attention, leaving many folks of small businesses or individuals going and trying to seek help from those agencies. And we needed a specialized trained force here in the state to supplement those federal efforts," added Moody.

Moody said the Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit is already working with FDLE and law enforcement on cyber crime investigations across the state. Last week, the unit and FDLE announced the shutdown of a complex criminal enterprise that used the dark web and cryptocurrency to commit massive identity theft and launder more than $350,000.

The state attorney's office is urging cyber crime victims to follow these steps:

• Secure devices by changing all passwords
• Preserve evidence by taking screenshots
• Report the crime to FDLE’s Computer Crime Center
• If the crime involved unauthorized access to financial accounts, notify the bank and credit card company—monitor accounts to check for identity theft
• Freeze credit
• Update antivirus, firewall and security software