Office for Victims of Crime announces financial crimes fellowship

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), recently announced a fellowship program  with up to six funded fellows that includes one fellowship for a person to work  on financial crimes.  In the announcement, OVC states it’s looking for someone to help “support OVC’s efforts to assess the needs and rights of vulnerable victims of financial fraud and other forms of serious yet non-violent crime (identity theft, medical/pharmaceutical fraud, mortgage fraud, computer intrusions, international cyber crimes, etc.), and to develop a comprehensive victim assistance strategy that addresses gaps in traditional victim services.” 

This looks like a great opportunity and a great effort.  At NCSA, we hear from victims quite regularly. They often don’t know where to turn when they have been the victims of cybercrime. They face a number of obstacles to justice including that perpetrators are hard to identify and locate, crimes committed over the Internet may not fall under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, and local services may not be geared up to help them.  We also hear frustration, anger, and anxiety—all common reactions to victimization from people who don’t know where to turn or who can help them.

There is a need to strengthen our safety net for victims of cybercrime and ensure they know how to report crimes and access help. We hope OVC gets some great candidates and look forward to seeing a strengthened response to all crime victims and helping anyway we can.

SSO (stay safe online),

Michael