1-800-876-7060
January-June 2004
Average Loss: $803
|
Top 10 Frauds |
|
|
Online Auctions* |
28% |
|
General Merchandise |
19% |
|
Nigerian Money Offers |
9% |
|
Phishing |
5% |
|
Information/Adult Services |
3% |
|
Lotteries/lottery clubs |
2% |
|
Fake check scams |
2% |
|
Computer equipment/software |
1% |
|
Fake escrow services |
1% |
|
Internet Access Services |
1% |
*In the fall of 2003, eBay removed the link from its Web site to the National Consumers League’s fraud center. As a result, the number of auction complaints reported to NCL has dropped to 1/6 of the previous level. Based on statistics prior to eBay’s action, NCL estimates that the fraud center would have received 18,660 auction complaints during the January 1-June 30, 2004 time period. The total number of Internet fraud complaints would have been approximately 24,505, with auctions representing 76%.
|
Payment Methods Overall |
|
|
Credit Card |
30% |
|
Money Order |
22% |
|
Bank Debit |
12% |
|
Check |
7% |
|
Debit Card |
6% |
|
Initial Contact Overall |
|
|
www |
77% |
|
|
22% |
|
newsgroup |
1% |
|
Ages of Victims Overall |
|
|
Under 20 |
3% |
|
20-29 |
24% |
|
30-39 |
26% |
|
40-49 |
23% |
|
50-59 |
16% |
|
60-69 |
6% |
|
70+ |
2% |
Locations of Companies
|
Outside U.S. or Canada |
17% |
|
California |
12% |
|
Florida |
9% |
|
New York |
8% |
|
Texas |
5% |
Top Five Victim Locations
|
CA |
13% |
|
NY |
7% |
|
TX |
6% |
|
FL |
5% |
|
PA |
4% |
For more information, write or call or email the National Consumers League at 1701 K Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, D.C. 20006, (202) 835-3323, info@nclnet.org.
NFIC is a project of the National Consumers League. All rights reserved. © 2004.