The Houston Area Cyber Crime (HACC) Task Force consists of a number of federal, state, and local law enforcement entities within the greater Houston area.  HACC has jurisdiction over particular violations occurring over the Internet.  The general public, private sector businesses, and the law enforcement community have experienced an explosion in Internet crime over the last several years.   The HACC Task Force has been created to better coordinate Internet crime and provide the Houston community a single location to report Internet related crimes. 

Violations Investigated
The many violations investigated by the HACC Task Force can basically be broken down into three areas; white-collar crime, violent crime, and crimes affecting the nation's critical infrastructure. 

White-Collar Crime
Within the white-collar crime area, HACC investigates Internet and computer related fraud, theft of intellectual property, and identity theft.  Common crimes within this area include:

• Credit card fraud
• Securities fraud schemes
• Copyright infringement matters.

Violent Crime
The violent crime area consists primarily of investigations into the manufacture, transmission, receipt, and production of child pornography.  The HACC also investigates those individuals who use the Internet to prey on children.  These individuals are commonly referred to as Internet stalkers.  The Innocent Images Houston Task Force, which has become an integral part of the HACC, was one of the first online undercover operations in the country and has been successfully investigating the above violations since 1998.  This group was responsible for the investigation of the web site known as The Candyman, the largest child pornography web site investigation to date.

Infrastructure Related Crimes
The HACC Task Force also plays an important role in protecting our nation's infrastructure, by investigating computer intrusions, denial of service attacks, and viruses targeting our nation's businesses, and governmental agencies.  Hackers and crackers may take advantage of a company's security vulnerabilities to gain access to their trade secrets, credit card databases, or simply cause malicious damage.  Criminals like these cause millions of dollars of damage annually, and this trend continues to increase.

Law Enforcement Partnerships
Area law enforcement officials have decided to co-locate the most highly trained investigators and analysts in the greater Houston area to combat these disturbing Internet crime trends.  These partnerships will greatly assist in the battle against Internet related crime.  Through continued technical training and information sharing the HACC Task Force will be better prepared to meet this emerging Internet threat.

To report Internet related crimes to the HACC Task Force, please contact 713-693-5000 and ask to speak to the duty agent.