Crimes on the internet increased by 33 per cent in 2008, says report. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, in a report released Monday, the number of complaints filed in 2008 jumped to 275,000 compared to 207,000 a year earlier.
The total reported dollar loss from such scams was $265 million, or about $25 million more than the year before. About one in three complaints were for nonpayment or non-delivery. The other most common complaints were for auction fraud or credit and debit card fraud.
Online scams originating from across the globe — mostly from the United States, Canada, Britain, Nigeria and China — are gathering steam this year with a nearly 50 percent increase in complaints reported to U.S. authorities in March alone.
The report also suggests that this is only the tip of the iceberg with only as little as 15 percent of cybercrimes actually reported to crime control agencies.
The complete Internet Crime Complaint Center report and tips on how to avoid Internet fraud can be found on the Seattle 911 blog.
While increased unemployment and financial difficulty have made Americans more susceptible to scams, the same unsteady job market may also push others toward crime, said John Kane, research manager for Internet Crime Complaint Center, a cybercrime clearinghouse funded in part by the FBI.
Statistics revealed in the report also showed that men lost more money in cyber-crime than women.
New scams are also constantly emerging with people paying their last $500 to someone who promises them a job. Once the money is paid, that is the last you hear from them.
Image by 23905174@N00Â under Creative Commons.
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I suppose the increase in Internet crime can be seen as a boon to IT Security specialists. That’s one job that will certainly be in demand.