Report: Net Crime Losses Total $240 Million in 2007, an All Time High

Craigslist and Ebay are becoming the new back alleys and shady neighborhoods as Internet fraud has reached an all-time high at $240 million lost in 2007, according to The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in report conducted in partnership the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center.

The report (PDF) shows that, for 2007, the number of Internet scams has been reduced, but the amount lost has risen $40 million. IC3 received 206,884 complaints about online crimes in 2007.

Who is at Risk

The statistics gathered are mind boggling as it shows that men are losing more, on average, and individuals over the age of 60 are losing almost double of what individuals in their 20s are losing.

The average amount lost for men is $765, while the average lost for women is at $552. People over the age of 60 are losing $760 per online scam compared to $385 for individuals in their 20s.

The most common case of Internet crime is fraud. This is where individuals are making purchases online and not receiving the correct goods, or any goods at all.

It's not just Ebay and Craigslist being home to all of the frauds. This past year has seen big increases in pet scams, online dating fraud and the two trusty old frauds: spam e-mail and phishing, where fake e-mails are sent trying to bait you into giving private information like logins or financial information.

The report also notes that scammers use crises like the Minnesota bridge collapse from 2007 to extract funds from individuals.

It's unfortunate, but there's not much that can be done. All I can say is to check, double check and triple check organization, business or individual names before handing over any money or information. A two-second search could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Comments

Post a comment Post a comment

0 / 1000 max characters