(Washington, D.C.) - Created in 1865, the United States Secret Service has been a valued component within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since March 2003. Well
known for protecting the nation’s leaders, the U.S. Secret Service is also responsible for protecting America’s financial infrastructure.
As the oldest investigative law enforcement agency within the department, the Secret Service accomplishes its investigative mission through the enforcement of counterfeiting
statutes to preserve the integrity of United States currency, coin and financial obligations.
For more than 20 years, the Secret Service's investigative responsibilities have also included crimes that involve financial institution fraud, computer and
telecommunications fraud, false identification documents, access device fraud, advance fee fraud, identity theft, electronic funds transfers and money laundering as it relates to
the agency's core violations.
In the last five years, the Secret Service has continued its proactive approach to combating crime and protecting national and world leaders.
• Protecting U.S. and World Leaders: The Secret Service continues to meet unprecedented challenges of protecting U.S. and world leaders. In addition,
protection of presidential candidates and comprehensive plans for securing the 2008 presidential campaign are being implemented.
• Designation and Coordination of National Special Security Events: The Secret Service assumed its mandated role as the lead agency responsible for security
design, planning and implementation of 13 designated National Special Security Events (NSSEs). The goal for each event is to coordinate all federal, state and local
agencies to develop and implement a seamless security plan, creating a safe and secure environment for the public, event participants, Secret Service protectees and
other dignitaries. Two NSSEs, the Democratic and Republican National Conventions will be held in 2008.
• Financial Investigations: Under DHS, the Secret Service made nearly 29,000 criminal arrests for counterfeiting, cyber investigations and other financial crimes,
98% of which resulted in convictions, and seized more than $295 million in counterfeit currency. The Secret Service investigated and closed financial crimes
cases where actual loss amounted to $3.7 billion and prevented a potential loss of more than $12 billion.
• Cyber Crime: The Secret Service continues to be the leading federal law enforcement agency pursuing cyber criminals throughout the world. Successful
investigations include Operation Firewall (2004) and Operation Rolling Stone (2006), as well as multiple individual arrests around the world that have prevented
millions in fraud loss. The Service also continues to work with leading industry partners, sharing intelligence with the financial community regarding cyber crime
trends as well as providing technical briefings which highlight current vulnerabilities in the electronic payment systems.
• Electronic Crimes Task Forces: The United States Secret Service has doubled its Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTF) a successful public-private partnership
aimed at fighting high-tech computer-based crimes. The common focus of the ECTF program, which now includes 24 nation-wide task forces, is to prevent,
detect, mitigate and aggressively investigate cyber attacks on the nation’s financial and critical infrastructures.
• Public and Law Enforcement Education: From March 2003 to present the Secret Service provided over 34,000 hours education to the public regarding
financial crime, counterfeiting and identity theft. More than 120,000 copies of several different instructional CDs were distributed by the Secret Service to help
front-line local, state and other federal officers understand and investigate high tech and identity crimes. Because most these crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the
Secret Service, the agency has taken an aggressive stance and continues to be a leading agency for the investigation and prosecution of such criminal activity.