Fraud on the Internet tripled in 2002 compared to the year before, according to the FBI.

The agency's Internet Fraud Complaint Center registered 48,000 complaints.

  • online auctions
  • non-delivery of merchandise
  • credit card fraud
  • fake investments




    Online auction fraud accounted for 46 per cent of complaints. The average loss was $320.

    In a recent case, the man the FBI called the "John Dillinger" of the Internet was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for scamming 1,700 people.

    The Center collects reports from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Britain and Germany.

    The total lost because of fraud over the Web was $54 million, up from $17 million from the year before.

    The FBI report said one persistent type of fraud involved the "Nigerian letter scam."

    It starts with a letter, fax or e-mail that requests help in getting millions of dollars out of the African country. In return, the person is supposed to receive a percentage of the total.

    As victims are hooked in, they are asked to pay increasingly larger amounts of money for administrative and insurance fees before being eligible to receive their percentage.

  • Understand your obligations as a buyer and the seller's obligations
  • Find out how the company deals with problems and transactions
  • Learn as much as possible about the seller, get an address and check out the Better Business Bureau
  • Examine the feedback on the seller
  • Ask when delivery can be expected and if the merchandise is covered by a warranty or can you exchange it

    • SOURCE: Internet Fraud Complaint Center