FBI Says Web Fraud Claims Surged in 2002

Fraud on the Internet rose sharply in 2002, with more than 48,000 complaints referred to prosecutors -- triple the number from a year earlier, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

By far the most common complaint was auction fraud, followed by non-delivery of promised merchandise, credit card fraud and fake investments, according to the report from the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, run by the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, based in Richmond, Va.

Reported Internet fraud losses totaled $54 million in 2002, compared with $17 million the year before. The 48,252 complaints referred for prosecution were far more than the 16,755 complaints referred in 2001.

The report provides a glimpse into common types of fraud, its perpetrators and victims.

For instance, almost 80% of known perpetrators are male and about 71% of those bringing complaints also are male.

One persistent scam described in the report is the so-called Nigerian letter, complaints for which rose from 2,600 in 2001 to 16,000 in 2002.

Victims are presented with an opportunity to receive nonexistent government money, often from the “Government of Nigeria,” as long as they pay an upfront fee often characterized as a bribe to that government.

The report did not include statistics on how many complaints resulted in criminal convictions last year.