A May 2023 Surfshark report showed 2022 saw a nearly 20% increase in child victims of cybercrime, and a more than 2x increase in financial losses from these crimes. Key findings from the privacy firm’s report:
- 2022 saw an increase in cybercrime against children. According to the FBI Internet Crime Center reports (2015-2022), there were nearly 20% more child victims of cybercrime in 2022 than the year prior. To put this into perspective, 7 children per day faced online exploitation in 2022.
- This decade has already seen nearly 8k child victims of cybercrime. That means over half of the children that fell victim to cybercrime since 2015 were targeted over the last three years.
- Financial losses saw an even greater year-over-year increase than the number of victims, rising by more than two times. To put this into perspective, the average loss per victim in 2021 was $92, while the number grew to $223 in 2022. In fact, 2022 saw the highest loss per victim this decade.
- Overall, from 2015 to 2022, the FBI recorded 14.5k child victims of cybercrime, totaling 2.9M in financial losses from these crimes.
“The increasing number of cybercrimes against children is alarming,” – says Surfshark’s spokeswoman Elena Babarskaite. “It is vital for anyone noticing abuse to take proactive measures to protect children, such as reporting directly to online platforms and local authorities. Taking action and educating people is the way to make this problem less severe in our society.”
