Courtesy of MSNBC, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and several private firms have launched a Web site designed to help consumers spot Internet fraud. The “Looks Too Good To Be True” site launched yesterday, providing greater consumer awareness, education and warnings of the latest scams.
“Officials say they are overwhelmed with complaints about Net crime and are trying to enlist consumers’ help to stem the tide. Last year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 207,000 complaints, an increase of 66 percent over the previous year. The average consumer lost $220 per complaint.”
When you consider the daily bombardments I get from fraudulent e-commerce phishing mails claiming to be from on-line services and popular financial institutions with which I have no accounts, it’s a safe bet that the 207,000 complaints are only the tip of the iceberg.