The Federal Bureau of Investigations says the reported dollar loss from Internet crime reached an all-time high in 2007 amounting to nearly $240 million, a $40 million increase in losses from 2006.

According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report:

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses.

This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006. All complaints received by IC3 are accessible to federal, state and local law enforcement to support active investigations, awareness efforts, trend analysis and public outreach.“The Internet presents a wealth of opportunity for would-be criminals to prey on unsuspecting victims,” said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James E. Finch. “This report shows how extensive these types of crime have become. What this report does not show is how often this type of activity goes unreported. Filing a complaint through IC3 is the best way to alert law enforcement authorities of Internet crime.”

Although Internet auction fraud was the most widely reported complaint, others cited in the report include fraudulent activity such as non-delivery of purchases and credit/debit card fraud, and non-fraudulent activity such as computer intrusions, spam/unsolicited e-mail and child pornography.

In an effort to raise public awareness, the report also describes the characteristics of commonly reported scams such as those involving the purchase or sale of pets, check scams, e-mail spam and online dating fraud.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a joint operation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center to serve as a vehicle to receive cyber crime complaints from private citizens and industry, and to develop and refer complaints to law enforcement.

The National White Collar Crime Center, a Bureau of Justice Assistance program, provides a nationwide support system for agencies involved in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of economic and high-tech crimes, and supports and partners with other appropriate entities in addressing homeland security initiatives related to economic and high-tech crimes.

More information about the National White Collar Crime Center is available at www.nw3c.org.

The 2007 Internet Crime Report is available at www.ic3.gov/media/annualreports.aspx.