I can't think of anything that's off limits to them': FBI slams
cybercriminals for attacking schools, hospitals, as crypto fraud soars

Date:
Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:15:00 +0000

Description:
The FBI's new IC3 report dissects the state of ransomware, and discusses attacks on hospitals and critical infrastructure firms.

FULL STORY
The FBI has slammed cybercriminals for carrying out
indiscriminate attacks against some of the most vulnerable elements of
society, including schools and hospitals.

The US law enforcement agency presented its annual Internet Crime Complaint center (ICR) report for 2025 , giving a snapshot of criminal activities,
their effects on citizens, and their efforts to combat the threat. And as per the report, cybercriminals stole a shocking $17.6 billion in 2025 - mostly through scams and fraud. Cyber-enabled fraud, where crooks
trick people into giving away money, data, identities, or are fooled into purchasing counterfeit goods and services, makes up almost 85% of all losses. At the same time, cyber-enabled fraud made up less than half (45%) of all complaints the IC3 received last year (1,008,597 in total).

This means that the biggest losses, on average, are in cyber-enabled fraud.

Investment fraud, where victims are tricked into investing their money on
fake cryptocurrency exchanges, and into crypto tokens that either appreciate
in value incredibly fast, or offer high yields for staking, were the second-biggest type of attack.

Here, victims lost $8.6 billion last year. In third place is Business Email Compromise (BEC), where criminals break into an executives email account and order their employees to quietly make a wire transfer. But the biggest shame about cybercrime is not in the money the criminals take - its who they are taking it from. Hospitals, schools, emergency responders, and city government agencies, to name a few.

During a presentation of the findings, Cyber Division Section Chief Taushiana Bright said theres been a surge in the number of ransomware variants circulating online today. At the moment, the IC3 is investigating more than
200 variants, actors, and enablers, 63 of which were identified last year.

Cybercriminals have indiscriminately attacked hospitals, emergency
responders, schools and entire city governments. I can't think of anything that's off limits to them, Bright said.

In total, the IC3 received 3,611 complaints, which resulted in $32 million in losses. This is up from 3,156 complaints in 2024, when $12 million were lost. While this might not sound like much, the IC3 stresses that many ransomware attacks are still not being reported to the authorities. Some, truth be told, get reported at a later date, as well.

Hitting critical infrastructure
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure

Critical infrastructure, and its 16 sectors that are
essential to national security, economic stability, and public health,
continue facing sustained ransomware pressure, the report finds. These
attacks have disproportionately impacted these sectors, with the IC3
recording at least 655 ransomware incidents affecting organizations within these sectors.

Those incidents resulted in more than $261 million in reported losses, though the report cautions that the real financial impact is likely significantly higher due to unaccounted costs such as downtime and remediation. Authorities were able to freeze approximately $146 million tied to these cases,
reflecting a partial but meaningful response.

There used to be a time when even cybercriminals had a code of conduct.
During the Covid years, ransomware operators DarkSide and LockBit
specifically instructed their affiliates not to target hospitals, and LockBit even publicly disavowed an affiliate after striking Torontos SickKids
childrens hospital.

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/i-cant-think-of-anything-thats-off-limi ts-to-them-fbi-slams-cybercriminals-for-attacking-schools-hospitals-as-crypto- fraud-soars

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