Internet expert witnesses may provide reports regarding electronic mail, online chat, social media, and internet marketing. This week the FBI shut down the internet marketplace Silk Road and arrested owner Ross William Ulbricht. Ulbricht is charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy and money laundering. FBI agent Christopher Tarbell said the site was used by “several thousand drug dealers” to sell “hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs.”
Charges include offering tutorials on contact lists for black market connections and counterfeiters, hacking ATM machines, and guns and hit men for sale. An FBI pilot program targeting internet crime was recently launched by the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the state of Utah. The IC3 reports that in 2012 alone, victims reported more than $500 million in losses due to crimes like fraudulent auto sales, intimidation/extortion scams, online dating fraud, scareware and ransomware, auction fraud, charity fraud, and computer intrusions.