Reported online crime up 22%
Online crime complaints increased substantially again last year. An official report from the US of fraudulent activity on the internet observed a total of 336,655 complaints in 2009, a 22 %increase from 2008.
The total loss linked to the online fraud was $559.7m this is up from $265m in 2008.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NWC), released the annual report.
Although the complaints consisted of a variety of fraud types, advanced fee scams that fraudulently used the FBI’s name ranked number one. Non-delivery of merchandise or payment was the second most reported offense.
NWC Director Donald Brackman said the report’s findings underscore the threat posed by cyber criminals. “The figures contained in this report indicate that criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet. They are also developing increasingly sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting consumers. Internet crime is evolving in ways we couldn’t have imagined just five years ago.”
Peter Trahon, section chief of the FBI’s Cyber Division, commented: “Computer users are encouraged to have up-to-date security protection on their devices and evaluate email solicitations they receive with a healthy skepticism—if something seems too good to be true, it likely is.”
