There are many prominent reasons why victims of cybercrime fail to report to authorities when they are pursued by an online criminal, such as digital fatigue brought on by having so many accounts, decreased perception in the harm that was done, a lack of trust in law enforcement where some victims believe it is pointless to seek help, and some even fear more retaliation from their attackers. Reasons listed in a study conducted by MDPI for not seeking intervention from law enforcement included: “Dealt with it another way” -42.82%, “Did not think it was criminal” -53.99%, and “Thought the police would not do anything about it” -32.98%. My personal experience in dealing with cybercriminals meant weighing the damage done against the options available, and if law enforcement was involved, they were part of the recovery plan, more so than a pursuit of justice. 

The time my Instagram was hijacked did not prompt a law enforcement response from the FBI, for example. One fine day, my page was covered in Arabic writing, my password no longer functioned to authenticate me, and it appeared my primary email had been changed. Hackers take control of established accounts as they automatically appear more authentic than one they’ve just created and have worked to spoof a real account. To me, this was infuriating but not as serious as if they had accessed my bank account, so I was able to regain control of the account with just technical support’s help and prevent future incidents with two-factor auth. 

References:

Fissel, E. R. (2023). Is it a crime? Cyberstalking victims’ reasons for not reporting to law enforcement. Social Sciences, 12(12), 659. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120659