Monday, May 19, 2003
Facts about Internet fraud:
Complaints about Internet fraud referred to investigators by the FBI's Internet fraud unit tripled last year, to 48,252. Online auctions claimed the biggest share, accounting for 46 percent of the total.
Losses from Internet fraud last year amounted to $54 million.
Failure to deliver goods to the buyer or payment to the seller accounted for 31 percent of complaints.
Fraud victims, on average, lost $320 last year.
Seventy percent of perpetrators were male. More than half of all the perpetrators were in California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Source: FBI