In addition to loose groups of online criminals, even organized crime groups have begun to use the internet to further their criminal activities. As consumers spend more time online, and more money, organized crime groups have begun to target international companies in schemes called "phishing". These schemes, similar to those by loose collections of criminals, target the consumer by mimicking actual companies who email users. When users click the hyperlinks within the email, they are taken to a fake site. As consumers unknowingly fill in information on this false site, the information is transferred back to the organized crime members. In 2002 alone, phishing by organized crime groups netted nearly $3 billion dollars worldwide, with nearly 70 organized crime groups concentrating solely on internet crimes (Mirel, 2002).

             In addition to phishing, organized crime groups have begun to extort money from sites whose sole purpose is internet trade and commerce. Today's criminals have the ability to completely shut down an online site through spamming, or repeated sending of information packets which eventually flood a web server. Extortionists often threaten to flood a site unless the group is paid a ransom. According to police, many sites pay rather than risking their online presence and income (Mirel, 2002).

             Identity theft is also causing a vast problem for law enforcement. Identity theft, according to police, is one of the most difficult new cyber crimes in existence, since locating the actual identity of an individual is difficult without some form of original information. As identity thieves migrate their crimes by county, state, or even country, the jurisdiction of police is difficult to ascertain, causing difficulty in the capture of such criminals. Additionally, many identity thieves operate solely on computer, making their arrest even more unlikely. To identify an identity thief, police must often first discover how the thief is obtaining information.