Friday, January 24, 2003

Internet Consumer Fraud Continues to Rise ?

See this article by Roy Mark from which I take these quotes:



According to the FTC, 47 percent of non-identity theft complaints were Internet-related, a 31 percent increase since 2000.



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The top 10 categories of consumer fraud complaints in 2002 include Internet auctions (13 percent), Internet services and computer complaints (6 percent), advance fee loans and credit protection (5 percent), shop-at-home/catalog sales (5 percent),foreign money offers (4 percent), prizes/sweepstakes and lotteries (4 percent), business opportunity and work-at-home plans (3 percent), telephone services (2 percent), health care (2 percent), and magazines and buyers clubs (2 percent).



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Beales also said there is no evidence that the explosive growth of the Internet has led to an increase in consumer fraud. Instead, he said, it has revived a number of near-dead frauds such as chain letters.