As economy worsens, complaints about Internet scams increase
When times get tough, the temptation to seek deals on the Web rises, the ability to filter them seems to decline, and the number of online crooks trying to take advantage usually swells. This "perfect storm" of online criminals, victims, and new technology contributed to a 33 percent increase in reports to the Internet Crime Complaint Center from 2007 to 2008 and a loss of $265 million, officials said.
It gets worse. So far this year, complaints are coming in at a far higher rate - at levels that will shatter all previous Internet crime records, said John Kane, research manager for the National White Collar Crime Center. The nonprofit crime center and the FBI jointly run the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov), the main collecting point for people to report Web-based rip-offs.
For the first time since 2000, when the IC3 started reporting its findings, Internet auction fraud is not the top category of crime. In 2008, failure to deliver paid-for merchandise took the top spot, accounting for one-third of all complaints. Kane said increased use of online classifieds such as Craigslist is a prime reason for the increase. Auction fraud was second at 25 percent.
On average, victims reported losing $931. In certain categories, the losses were far higher. Victims of check fraud reported losing an average of $3,000, and those taken in by the infamous Nigerian letter reported losses averaging $1,650.
Massachusetts residents placed 31st among those who logged complaints, either demonstrating a better than average avoidance of being ripped off (good) or a lower propensity to complain (bad).
The FBI agent in charge of cyber crimes, Leslie Hoppey, urged people to register complaints if someone tries to rip them off via e-mail or on the Web. Getting a broad picture of who is being targeted and how the scammers operate helps investigators and can aid in prosecution.
But Hoppey and others painted a bleak picture when it comes to recovering losses. Even if investigators successfully prosecute a case, the chance of recovering money - or anything close to what was lost - is slim. FBI officials did urge victims, though, to retain all documentation of what happened to them so they can make a claim when a crook is ordered to pay restitution.
In hopes of reversing the trends, FBI officials say they have stepped up public education campaigns intended to keep consumers from falling prey to the wide array of scams they are exposed to. They are part of a public-private partnership that created www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com - a site dedicated to helping people avoid becoming victims.
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