The IC3 2011 Internet Crime Report was recently released.   The IC3 is where many smaller crimes such as identity theft, email scams and other internet crimes are reported.  It does not cover all reported crime and is only an indicator or the trends we see across multiple industry sectors and reporting agencies. There are some very interesting numbers for the "Average Joe" and small business owner in this report.

Total complaints received: 314,246

Complaints reporting loss: 115,903

Total Loss: $485,253,871

Median dollar loss for those reporting a loss: $636

Average dollar loss overall: $1,544

Average dollar loss for those reporting loss: $4,187

This should be a wakeup call to all individuals and small business owners out there that internet crime is real.  It targets everyone.  When approaching small businesses to help them ensure information security we're often told "We're too small to be a target." or "We don't have enough revenue to make it worth the time to target us."  Hopefully this information will dispel that myth.  The average loss was $4,000.  How big does a company need to be before losing $4,000 at a time isn't worth the effort to stop it?