Internet Fraud Report Shows Increase

Beware that email tugging at your heart strings. Instead of there being a lovable pooch needing adopted, the love of your life waiting to be in your arms, or a needy family trying to move money out of a war-torn country - there is probably a 30-something year-old man waiting to rip you off. Those are the big three scams being pulled on the internet, according to the IC3 Internet Crime Center's report for 2007.

The good news - the number of people filing complaints dropped in 2007 from 2006, but only marginally, from 207,492 to 206,884 reports. The bad news - over $240 million, an increase of $42 million from 2006, was reported to have been bilked out of people responding to the online con artists.

According to the report, nearly three-fourths of the scams arrived via an email, with some leading to a web site for pet adoption or online dating. About one-third of the scams involved a web site of some kind.

One thing most of the scams in 2007 had in common was a check - the fraudster on the other end sending out a check (bad) made out to the target of the con, then the targeted victim depositing the check while unsuspectingly sending a portion of the money on to a third party in an elaborate financial shell game. By the time the (bad) check is returned to the victim's bank, the (good) check that they sent has cleared the banks, leaving the victim out the funds they sent.

Men seem to be an easier touch than women for online scams, with the average loss for men 67% higher than for women. The FBI partially attributes this to the combination of the types of scams men are more likely to respond to, as well as the difference in online buying habits of men and women. The median dollar loss for victims of these crimes was a whopping $680.

IC3 has tracked the origins of these fraudulent emails, and most are emanating from just 6 states: California, New York, Texas, Illinois, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. While most of the criminals are located within the United States, some have also been traced to the United Kingdom, Italy, Romania, and Nigeria.