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Cherokee County, Ga. May 16, 2003 Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, in coordination with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, is a partner in a national take down effort that highlights recent Internet crime investigations stemming from Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) referrals code named "Operation E-Con."
The initiatives that are a part of "Operation E-Con" represent the culmination of significant investigative activity on the part of law enforcement agencies over the last five months.
In a press conference today in Washington, D.C., senior executives from each of the sponsoring agencies announced the results of the initiative, which involved more than 90 investigations, involving 89,000 victims and estimated losses of more than $176 million dollars. Significant activities in "Operation E-Con" include the execution of 73 search and seizure warrants, and the formal charging or conviction of more than 130 individual subjects.
Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, in addition to 73 other state and local law enforcement agencies, along with 7 federal agencies which include the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection contributed case information to "Operation E-Con."
IFCC is co-managed by NW3C (www.nw3c.org) and the FBI (www.fbi.gov). IFCC is an on-line resource to file Internet fraud complaints that will be referred to law enforcement authorities that have the ability to initiate a case on the consumer's behalf.
Since its launch in May 2000, IFCC has referred 71,114 complaints nationwide, and 3,248 to the state of Georgia.
NW3C provides the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office with state-of-the-art training and investigative support services for investigating, prosecuting, and preventing economic and cyber crime.
"Thanks to NW3C, our agency has obtained the how-to's for investigating the types of complaints that IFCC sends our way," said Sheriff Roger Garrison. "It's an effective partnership that has been of benefit to our agency and state."
To obtain the Operation E-Con press brief, visit http://www.nw3c.org/news_room.html
