Internet Safety

Over the past several years, Crookston Police Department has received an increasing number of reports related to online fraud and theft. Internet users should be wary of transactions requiring electronic money transfers and should avoid sending funds to persons whom they do not know. The majority of these fraud schemes span state and national borders, making it impossible for law enforcement agencies pursue an investigation.

• For general information on the many types of internet scams, view the United State Department of Justice Mass Marketing Fraud page.
• For general information on ways to keep yourself and your children safe on the internet, visit the Open Colleges Cyber Safety page.
• For a list of widely-reported recent and ongoing scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission Scam Alerts page.
• For information on reporting a cyber crime, view the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3 page.

One of the easiest and best ways to keep yourself safe from computer viruses is to back up your important files to an external location, such as a flash drive or to the cloud, such as Google Drive. Back up anything you want to make sure you never lose, such as family pictures and important documents.