John Fairheart
24 December 2005, 11:25
Internet Fraud Statistics [USA] - Nine Month Trends 2005
December 2005
By 'John Fairheart (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/member.php?u=12)' for fraudwatchers.org
Source: National Fraud Information Center (Internet Fraud Watch (http://www.fraud.org/internet/intstat.htm))
Introduction
The NFIC stems from the National Consumers League's (http://www.natlconsumersleague.org) longstanding commitment to protecting and promoting consumers' social and economic interests. NCL works extensively with the media to raise public awareness about telemarketing and Internet fraud. While the identities of consumers who contact the NFIC and the companies they report are shared only with law enforcement agencies, NCL can provide the media with information about the most prevalent telemarketing and Internet scams, how particular scams work, the latest trends, etc. Information from the NFIC web site can be reprinted with advance permission and attribution to: The National Fraud Information Center, a project of the National Consumers League.
Top Ten Scams : January-September 2005
Category - % of all complaints - average loss
Auctions - 42%* - $1,129
Goods never delivered or misrepresented
-
General Merchandise - 31% - $2,828
Sales not through auctions, goods never delivered or misrepresented
-
Nigerian Money Offers - 8% - $8,757
False promises of riches if consumers pay to transfer money to their bank accounts
-
Fake Checks - 6% - $4,125
Consumers paid with phony checks for work or items sold, instructed to wire money back
-
Lotteries/Lottery Clubs - 4% - $2,859
Requests for payment to claim lottery winnings or get help to win, often foreign lotteries
-
Phishing - 3% - $816
Emails pretending to be from well-known source asking to confirm personal information
-
Information/Adult Services - 1% - $574
Cost and terms of services not disclosed or misrepresented
-
Work-at-Home Plans - 1% - $1,294
Kits sold on false promises of big profits from working at home
-
Advance Fee Loans - 1% - $1,247
False promises of personal or business loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee paid upfront
-
Internet Access Services - 1% - $1,635
Cost of Internet access and other services misrepresented or services never provided
*Since eBay removed the link to fraud.org from its site in 2003, the number of auction complaints reported to NCL has dropped to 1/6 the previous level. Based on statistics prior to eBay's action, NCL estimates that there would have been 24,318 auction complaints in this period, representing 81 percent.
Nine Month Trends
* The average loss to Internet fraud has risen from $895 in 2004 to $2,033.
* In 25 percent of the Internet scams reported to NCL, consumers were initially contacted by email, compared to 5 percent in 2003. Most Nigerian money offers, fake check scams, lottery scams, and phishing attempts were initiated by email.
* The top Internet frauds victimizing people age 60+ were lotteries, phishing, information/adult services, and Nigerian money offers.
* A growing number of foreign crooks are scamming U.S. consumers via the Internet. 38 percent were in other countries (of which 3 percent were in Canada), but the number is probably much higher, since in 27 percent of complaints the crooks' locations were unknown. Foreign crooks were especially prevalent in online auction scams, general merchandise scams, Nigerian money offers, fake check scams, lottery scams, work-at-home plans, and scams involving Internet access services.
* Wiring money has become the most common method of payment in Internet fraud, accounting for 27 percent of fraudulent transactions. It was the predominant method of payment in Nigerian money offers, fake check scams, lottery scams, and advance fee loans.
Ages of Consumers
Age of the consumers making complaints, with the % of total complaints.
19 and Under 3%
20-29 24%
30-39 25%
40-49 23%
50-59 17%
60-69 6%
70+ 2%
Top Methods of Payment
Wire 27%
Credit Card 25%
Money Order 14%
Bank Debit 11%
Debit Card 9%
Check 7%
Contact Methods Employed
Methods of Contact by Internet Crooks
Web sites 75%
Email 25%
FURTHER READING:
419 Advance Fee Fraud (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59)
Lottery Fraud - A Brief Description (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=255)
Representative scam summary (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=257)
Seller beware, fake cheques, dodgy money orders and shifty shipments (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=464)
Copyright © 2005 by 'John Fairheart (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/member.php?u=12)'
For fraudwatchers.org
December 2005
By 'John Fairheart (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/member.php?u=12)' for fraudwatchers.org
Source: National Fraud Information Center (Internet Fraud Watch (http://www.fraud.org/internet/intstat.htm))
Introduction
The NFIC stems from the National Consumers League's (http://www.natlconsumersleague.org) longstanding commitment to protecting and promoting consumers' social and economic interests. NCL works extensively with the media to raise public awareness about telemarketing and Internet fraud. While the identities of consumers who contact the NFIC and the companies they report are shared only with law enforcement agencies, NCL can provide the media with information about the most prevalent telemarketing and Internet scams, how particular scams work, the latest trends, etc. Information from the NFIC web site can be reprinted with advance permission and attribution to: The National Fraud Information Center, a project of the National Consumers League.
Top Ten Scams : January-September 2005
Category - % of all complaints - average loss
Auctions - 42%* - $1,129
Goods never delivered or misrepresented
-
General Merchandise - 31% - $2,828
Sales not through auctions, goods never delivered or misrepresented
-
Nigerian Money Offers - 8% - $8,757
False promises of riches if consumers pay to transfer money to their bank accounts
-
Fake Checks - 6% - $4,125
Consumers paid with phony checks for work or items sold, instructed to wire money back
-
Lotteries/Lottery Clubs - 4% - $2,859
Requests for payment to claim lottery winnings or get help to win, often foreign lotteries
-
Phishing - 3% - $816
Emails pretending to be from well-known source asking to confirm personal information
-
Information/Adult Services - 1% - $574
Cost and terms of services not disclosed or misrepresented
-
Work-at-Home Plans - 1% - $1,294
Kits sold on false promises of big profits from working at home
-
Advance Fee Loans - 1% - $1,247
False promises of personal or business loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee paid upfront
-
Internet Access Services - 1% - $1,635
Cost of Internet access and other services misrepresented or services never provided
*Since eBay removed the link to fraud.org from its site in 2003, the number of auction complaints reported to NCL has dropped to 1/6 the previous level. Based on statistics prior to eBay's action, NCL estimates that there would have been 24,318 auction complaints in this period, representing 81 percent.
Nine Month Trends
* The average loss to Internet fraud has risen from $895 in 2004 to $2,033.
* In 25 percent of the Internet scams reported to NCL, consumers were initially contacted by email, compared to 5 percent in 2003. Most Nigerian money offers, fake check scams, lottery scams, and phishing attempts were initiated by email.
* The top Internet frauds victimizing people age 60+ were lotteries, phishing, information/adult services, and Nigerian money offers.
* A growing number of foreign crooks are scamming U.S. consumers via the Internet. 38 percent were in other countries (of which 3 percent were in Canada), but the number is probably much higher, since in 27 percent of complaints the crooks' locations were unknown. Foreign crooks were especially prevalent in online auction scams, general merchandise scams, Nigerian money offers, fake check scams, lottery scams, work-at-home plans, and scams involving Internet access services.
* Wiring money has become the most common method of payment in Internet fraud, accounting for 27 percent of fraudulent transactions. It was the predominant method of payment in Nigerian money offers, fake check scams, lottery scams, and advance fee loans.
Ages of Consumers
Age of the consumers making complaints, with the % of total complaints.
19 and Under 3%
20-29 24%
30-39 25%
40-49 23%
50-59 17%
60-69 6%
70+ 2%
Top Methods of Payment
Wire 27%
Credit Card 25%
Money Order 14%
Bank Debit 11%
Debit Card 9%
Check 7%
Contact Methods Employed
Methods of Contact by Internet Crooks
Web sites 75%
Email 25%
FURTHER READING:
419 Advance Fee Fraud (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59)
Lottery Fraud - A Brief Description (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=255)
Representative scam summary (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=257)
Seller beware, fake cheques, dodgy money orders and shifty shipments (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=464)
Copyright © 2005 by 'John Fairheart (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/member.php?u=12)'
For fraudwatchers.org