The IFCC referred 48,252 fraud complaints to federal, state and/or local law enforcement authorities last year, according to the Internet Fraud Report released on Wednesday. The IFCC (Internet Fraud Complaint Center) said this is triple the number of referrals (16,775) in 2001.

The report also states that the total dollar loss from all referred fraud cases was $54 million, up from $17 million in 2001.

Internet auction fraud was the most reported offense, comprising 46% of referred complaints. Non-delivery of
merchandise and non-payment accounted for 31% of complaints, and credit/debit card fraud made up nearly 12% of complaints.

Among victims who reported a dollar loss, the highest median dollar losses were found among Nigerian letter fraud ($3,864), identity theft ($2,000), and check fraud ($1,100) complainants.

The 2002 annual report offers a recap of Internet crime hot spots by state, statistical information, and victim demographic data gleaned through complaints IFCC has received and referred through its online Web portal from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002. In 2002, complaints filed with IFCC totaled 75,063.

"The IFCC helps victims by putting fraud information
into the hands of law enforcement and then fosters inter-agency cooperation so these complaints are responded to quickly," said Assistant Director Jana Monroe of the FBI's Cyber Division.

California, New York, Florida, Texas, and Illinois were the top five states for victims of Internet crime. In cases where the perpetrator has been identified, nearly four in five were male and over half resided in the states of California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

Only one in four complainants contacted a law enforcement agency about their victimization prior to filing a complaint with IFCC. Operational since May 2000, IFCC is co-managed by NW3C and the FBI. IFCC is an online resource to file Internet fraud complaints that will be referred to law enforcement authorities that have the ability to initiate a case on the
consumer's behalf.

Other Stories:
Today's Wall Street Journal Digits column highlights a
Boston company called GenuOne that helps manufacturers monitor eBay listings for counterfeit products. This will help companies registered with eBay's VeRO program report violating auctions to eBay. You must have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal to have
access to the article, but you can go right to the GenuOne Web site at: http://www.genuone.com