Internet fraud hampers the progress of many types of online business--it troubles consumers and creates problems for businesses broad-spectrum.
According to a report titled, 2009 Internet Crime Report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center online fraud decreased by nearly 10% in 2010--following a 22.3% increase in 2009. The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a joint program from the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI. Despite the fact that there was a significant decline in web crime in 2010, that year was still the second highest year in history for reported cases. The overall trend is one of a steady and alarming increase in online criminal activity.
Common scams and classifications:
The IC3 implemented a new classification system in 2009 to automatically categorize incoming complaints. The system contains 79 offense-based categories. Some of the biggest scams are still email based, non-delivered merchandise, identity thief, and credit card fraud:
- non-delivered merchandise or payments: 19.9%
- identity thief: 14.1%
- credit card fraud: 10.4%
- auction fraud: 10.3%
- computer fraud: 7.9%
Within email scams (for some this may be quite surprising) schemes that use the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) name in context of their scam are one of the most commonly reported--16.6% of all complaints submitted. Wihin the context of email, scams involving the crime of non-delivered merchandise or payment stands for 11.9% of complaints submitted to the IC3.
Although this latest IC3 report may, at the surface, present a positive outlook on the fight against online fraud and scams, it should not be taken as a win by any extent. Internet/web crime has an almost organic growth behavior--with new mutations and evolutions coming to light frequently. In the NY Times article covering this report (02/25/2011, Internet Fraud Declined in 2010), they cautioned readers "Indeed, there is no sign that the battle against online crime is being won." Criminals will adapt to defenses (paraphrase of NY Times article). Or, another way of looking at it, criminals use their creativity to invent the curve. Those on the defense must use their creativity to keep up, and, at times, make great strides in a battle that can be characterized by sheer inventiveness and adaptability.
