FIGHTING cybercrime has become easier after a national online reporting system was launched.
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Tasmania Police’s Senior Sergeant Luke Manhood said the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network, known as the ACORN, was a simple way for victims to report and learn about cybercrime.
The project has been set up by CrimTrac, the Australian Crime Commission, the Attorney-General’s Department and all Australian police forces.
He said it would streamline reports to the correct law enforcement agency to investigate.
‘‘It terms of combating cybercrime, it’s very significant,’’ he said.
‘‘Say we had an offender in Queensland and a Tasmanian victim.
‘‘If the victim reports the crime into this ACORN system, and if it identifies the suspect is in Queensland, the report will go straight to Queensland Police.
‘‘It is a national system ... the offending isn’t necessarily going to be investigated by the law enforcement where the victim is located.
‘‘It takes out a lot of bureaucracy in moving complaints to appropriate agencies.’’
Senior Sergeant Manhood said that while a large proportion of cybercrime came from overseas, with common catches being romance and investment fraud, it could also involve computer system attacks, email scams and identity theft.
It is estimated that cybercrime costs Australians $2 billion a year.
However, the total cost including police, courts and prison was guessed at $47.6 billion annually in 2011.
‘‘We do get a lot of reports and one of the things that we do know is that fraud generally and cybercrime especially is under-reported,’’ Senior Sergeant Manhood said.
‘‘People don’t know who to report it to, they don’t know if the police will do anything about it, so a lot of the time it is not reported or people don’t appreciate that it is a crime.
‘‘The first port of call is to get the most appropriate agency to investigate it, and in Australia that includes all police agencies and partners like the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and a the Australian Communications and Media Authority.’’
For more information, visit www.acorn.gov.au.