Money lost in Internet scams hits new high
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 3, 2008 The number of reported Internet scams dropped slightly from
previous years, but the total lost jumped by $40 million, according
to the report released Thursday by the FBI and the National White
Collar Crime Center.
The report, based on data from the Internet Crime Complaint
Center, shows that more men than women were scammed over the
Internet. The average loss for men was $765; for women, $552.
The report also shows the amounts lost increased with age.
Victims in their 20s lost $385 on average while people over 60
reported lost an average $760 per scam.
The jump in money lost online might be due to new scheming
techniques and generally more expensive electronic items being
purchased online, said John Hambrick, a spokesman for the Internet
Crime Complaint Center.
The report cites repeated increases over the years in pet scams,
online dating fraud, unsolicited e-mail known as spam and
"phishing," in which scammers send phony e-mails to retrieve
consumers' personal or financial information.
The most common crime reported was auction fraud, in which
consumers did not get the right merchandise they paid for.
A consumer might "pay $25 for a DVD that somebody actually
recorded in the back of a movie theater," said FBI spokeswoman
Cathy Milhoan.
The second most common crime was through non-delivery of a
purchased good, followed by confidence fraud, in which scammers ask
consumers to rely on them, resulting in a financial lost.
Many cases of crime involve scammers asking for charity relating
to natural disasters or crises. Milhoan said scammers tried to
profit from the Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minnesota last
year, in which 13 people were killed.
"The scammer tries to prey on victims who are kind of in tune
with what's going on in the world," she said. "The scam changes,
but ultimately they're preying on the good will of people."
Among complaints of a reported money loss, more than half
involved a loss of less than $1,000. About a third reported losses
between $1,000 and $5,000.
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On the Net:
Report: http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2007-IC3Report.pdf
