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Internet fraud statistics
During 2002, Internet auction fraud was by far the most reported
offense, comprising 46.1% of referred fraud complaints. This represents a 7.7%
increase from 2001 (42.8%) levels of reported auction fraud. In addition, during
2002, the non-delivery of merchandise and payment comprise 31.3% of complaints
(up 54.2% from 2001), and credit and debit card fraud make up an additional
11.6% of complaints (up 23.4% from 2001). The remainder of the top ten types of
activity referred by IFCC (investment fraud, business fraud, confidence fraud,
identity theft, check fraud, Nigerian letter fraud and communications fraud)
makes up nearly 6% of complaints.
The total dollar loss from all referred cases of fraud in 2002 was $54
million. This compares with $17 million in total losses from all referrals in
2001. With those complaints where a monetary loss was reported, the mean dollar
loss was $1,482 and the median was $299. Nearly 28% of these referred complaints
involved losses of less than $100, while nearly half of all referred complaints
(49.2%) had a loss of between $100 and $1,000. One in five complaints (19%)
involved a loss between $1,000 and $5,000 dollars and only 3.6% had a loss of
greater than $5,000. The highest dollar loss per incident is found among
Nigerian letter fraud, (median loss of $3,400), identity theft ($2,000), and
check fraud ($1,100) complaints. The lowest dollar loss was found among
credit/debit card fraud (median loss of $120) and non-delivery ($176) referrals.
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