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Cybercrime

Federal law prohibits the use of the Internet or other interstate facility to lure children for sexual exploitation; prohibits crossing a state line with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child; and prohibits possession, production or distribution of child pornography. The United States Attorney's Office regularly prosecutes these cases under the Child Pornography Prevention Act and the Mann Act in order to punish people engaged in any aspect of child exploitation. Assistant United States Attorney Rob Livergood coordinates these prosecutions. If you have any information concerning child luring or pornography, he may be reached at (314) 539-2200.

The United States Attorney's Office prosecutes computer hacking offenses under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030 (fraud and related activity in connection with computers). Section 1030 prohibits intentional, unauthorized access into a protected computer which causes damage in excess of $5,000. Protected computers are broadly defined as any computer used in interstate or foreign commerce. Damage is any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system or information. Sentences range up to twenty years, depending upon the victim's loss and other factors. Losses include any reasonable cost to respond to the intrusion, conduct damage assessments and restore data, programs and networks to their pre-intrusion condition, as well as any revenue lost or costs incurred as a result of any interruption of service.

Intellectual property or theft of information crimes are prosecuted under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2319 (criminal infringement of a copyright), Section 2320 (trafficking in counterfeit goods/trademark violations), and Section 1832 (theft of trade secrets).

Finally, the St. Louis United States Attorney's Office prosecutes many Internet fraud cases using traditional mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud statutes.

Assistant United States Attorneys in the Eastern District of Missouri routinely work with investigators, forensic examiners and other prosecutors at all levels of law enforcement to investigate cases, provide training and stay current on trends and technology. Additionally, our attorneys regularly conduct outreach activities with schools, businesses and other law enforcement organizations to provide training and to develop relationships that are necessary to combat cybercrime effectively. For example, our attorneys participate with the United States Secret Service's Electronic Crimes Task Force to conduct outreach and educational activities with local law enforcement organizations and businesses.

If you have any information concerning computer hacking, theft of information or Internet fraud, or if you have any questions about the Computer Crimes program, please feel free to contact Assistant United States Attorneys Gwendolyn Carroll or Matthew Drake at 314-539-2200.

For detailed information regarding computer crime prosecutions and investigations, contact the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice at www.cybercrime.gov.

To report an internet fraud contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov.

Contact Information

Gwendolyn Carroll
Matthew Drake

Coordinators
Cybercrime Task Force
314-539-2200 (office)
314-539-2309 (fax)

Links

DOJ Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section
Internet Crime Prevention Tips
 

Updated April 2, 2024