FBI: Internet fraud complaints up 33 percent in 2008

March 30, 2009, 03:30 PM —  IDG News Service — 

2008 was the busiest year yet for online fraudsters according to an annual Internet Crime Report released Monday by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) logged more than 275,000 complaints last year -- a jump of 33 percent from the year before -- accounting for about US$265 million dollars worth of losses, according to the center's 2008 Internet Crime Report.

Complaints to the IC3 had been dropping since 2005, but last year broke the previous record of 231,000. The median dollar loss per complaint was $931. In 2007 it was $680.

The jump in complaints isn't surprising. Computer security experts say that 2008 was a watershed year for cybercriminals as they perfected their techniques, building automated "SQL Injection" programs that could quickly place malicious attack code on thousands of Web sites, and running massive networks of botnet computers that could be used to steal sensitive information and infect other computers.

As in previous years, online auction fraud and nondelivery of merchandise accounted for more than half of the complaints, although auction-fraud complaints dropped more than 10 percentage points from 2007 levels.

Credit and debit card complaints were up in a year when two major payment card processors -- Heartland Payment Systems and RBS WorldPay were hacked. In 2007, credit and payment card fraud made up 6.3 percent of complaints. Last year, with even more complaints on the books, this kind of crime accounted for 9 percent of the total.

Most fraudsters use e-mail to reach their marks, and spam designed to steal sensitive financial information was "one of the more significant scams" the IC3 saw last year. In one new scam, the criminals sent messages doctored to look as though it had come from the FBI, asking for bank account information in order to help with a financial investigation. "Many of these e-mails also contain an element of extortion," the IC3 report states. "Recipients are told that if they do not comply with the FBI's request for information they will be prosecuted."

In another widespread scam, the criminals would hack into a victim's e-mail account and then send out messages to friends, claiming that they were stranded in Nigeria or some other foreign country and needed some quick cash to get out of a jam.

The IC3 data comes from the cybercrime victims themselves. It is then shared with law enforcement and regulatory agencies that use it to get a track on crime trends and to prosecute criminals.

IDG News Service

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Close

On Twitter now

fbi

Powered by Twitter
You are logged in | Sign out
Sign in and post to Twitter

What are you thinking?

Cancel Tweet sent

On Twitter now

Post a comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
peer-to-peer

Brian Proffitt
Microsoft/Novell: Breaking Down the Coupon Numbers

Esther Schindler
Drupal's Dries Buytaert on Building the Next Drupal

Tom Henderson
Top Ten General Operating Systems Rants

pasmith
PS3 motion controller delayed; goes up against Project Natal

sjvn
Neolithic Windows security hole alive and well in Windows 7

claird
Perl source code comparison makes for good reading

mikelgan
Cell phones don't create stress or interrupt much

Sandra Henry-Stocker
How to: The Unix Interview

 

Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
Marketplace