just some general info on scams

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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:16 pm

stole it from http://www.fraud.org/internet/2007internet.pdf
Unfortunately it doesn't say how many complaints they get and what they estimate the total will be. So this is just an impression of the reported complaints, RL values could differ a lot.

Quote:

NCL’s Fraud Center

2007 Top 10 Internet Scams
* In the fall of 2003, online giant eBay removed the link from its Web site to fraud.org. As a result, the number of auction
complaints reported to NCL’s fraud center has dropped to a fraction of its previous levels.
Scam % of complaints AverageLoss
1. Fake Check Scams
Consumers paid with phony checks for work or items sold, instructed to wire money back 29% $3,310.87
2. General Merchandise
Sales (not through auctions), goods never delivered or misrepresented 23% $1,136.84
3. Auctions*
Goods never delivered or misrepresented 13% $1,371.08
4. Nigerian Money Offers
False promises of riches if consumers pay to transfer money to their bank accounts 11% $4,043.14
5. Lotteries/Lottery Clubs
Requests for payment to claim lottery winnings or get help to win, often foreign lotteries 7% $998.43
6. Advance Fee Loans
False promises of business or personal loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee upfront 3% $1,310.77
7. Prizes/Sweepstakes
Requests for payment to claim prizes that never materialize 3% $1,181.58
8. Phishing
Emails pretending to be from a well-known source, asking to confirm personal information 3% $220.47
9. Friendship and Sweetheart Swindles
Con artist nurtures an online relationship, convinces victim to send money. 1% $3,038.31
10. Internet Access Services
Cost of Internet access and other services misrepresented or services never provided 1% $896.99

* In the fall of 2003, online giant eBay removed the link from its Web site to fraud.org. As a result, the number of auction
complaints reported to NCL’s fraud center has dropped to a fraction of its previous levels.

Anyone better info on this?

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:36 am

Here's some 2008 statistical info.

Internet Fraud Statistics

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:09 am

I'd have to take that website with a pinch of salt.

Quote:

Globally, in 2006, most scammers operated from the United States.

Quote:

The majority of reported perpetrators were from the United States.

It seems to me that they've gone with "This is where the scammer says he comes from, so it must be true".

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:58 pm

^^ why? no dishonest people in the States then, eh Laughing

Quote:

Rank Top Categories Complaints %
1 Identity Theft 246,035 36%
2 Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales 46,995 7%
3 Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries 45,587 7%
4 Internet Services and Computer Complaints 41,243 6%
5 Internet Auctions 32,832 5%
6 Foreign Money Offers 20,411 3%
7 Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair 10,857 2%
8 Magazines and Buyers Clubs 8,924 1%
9 Telephone Services 8,165 1%
10 Health Care 7,467 1%
11 Business Opportunities and Work-at-Home Plans 7,460 1%
12 Travel, Vacations, and Timeshare 6,712 1%
13 Office Supplies and Services 5,723 1%
14 Grants: Scholarships/Educational & Non-Educational 5,310 1%
15 Employment Agencies/Job Counselors/Overseas Work 4,485 1%
16 Investments 3,630 1%
Other Coded Complaints 12,399 2%

Yep I can see that dark man coming to the counter saying, " Yep, I'm Ian O'Brian" with a slight Irish accent Wink

Edit: Thanks SB

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:11 pm

bill2 wrote:

why? no dishonest people in the States then, eh Laughing

I'm no Yank so I didn't post in their defence. Merely a fact.

Work it out. It's calculated that there are over 250,000 scammers operating in West Africa. Do you honestly believe that there are over that amount in the US?
If so, where are their emails? Where are the formats? Where's the evidence?

Canada probably chucks out more scam-mail than the US.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:56 pm

One of the many that are around http://www.autogassavings.com/index.html World wide pyramid scam originating from the States.
Any telephone insurance seller, it isn't all on email, but a scam is a scam.
Investments scams like this one from Canada (I don't care about countries, that's just part of a name for where I live at the moment) http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2003/02/05/investmentscam_030205.html
A debit card scam, now that would be hard to do from Nigeria Laughing

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070629/debit_scam_070629?s_name=&no_ads=
Just do a Google, too many to mention.
But the things that don't confirm our believes are easily forgotten, that's how the mind works.
Yep the email scammers come from elsewhere, but the complaint study doesn't mention where they got them from. Laughing

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 2:26 pm

^^^ The site specifically states "Internet Fraud".

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 2:58 pm

Yep, and that's where I got that list. The FTC's Annual List of Top Consumer Complaints, but must that be a 100% over the internet or can it be 25% over the internet, or somewhere in between, cause those guys always want to phone me, sms me and send me cheques by snail mail or courier. After all Nigeria scammers started with snail mail too. I always thought a scam is a scam, no matter what means they use to convince the victim. The majority of scams from Nigeria will be online, that is true, but that doesn't mean that the majority of scams come from Nigeria. The ones we take for granted and don't see as scams anymore are not only online, but still scams.
Asking for proof in this gray matter is a bit difficult though and sentences like

Quote:

It's calculated that there are over 250,000 scammers operating in West Africa.

don't hold facts either, just seem more convincing. And I do think that there are more scammers in the US then 250.000, they have the better education(some) and the means to do it all online. What about tax fraud with the online submission of the yearly numbers. The Internet is an American invention after all and they do know how to use it, all 303+ million of them.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:20 pm

Bill. I don't see what you're getting at.

The site says that the majority of internet scams originate in the US.
That is plainly wrong. Or do you know something that the rest of us don't?

I'm not arguing about scamming or criminality in general. That's not the issue here. The site is concerned with internet scams and so was my claim that the US is not responsible for the majority of online scam fraud as that site claims.

From the site itself:

The statistics for the current Top 10 frauds and scams list can be found below:

* Internet auction fraud was by far the most reported offense, comprising 44.9% of referred complaints. Nondelivered merchandise and/or payment accounted for 19.0% of complaints. Check fraud made up 4.9% of complaints. Credit/debit card fraud, computer fraud, confidence fraud, and financial institutions fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.
* Of those individuals who reported a dollar loss, the highest median losses were found among Nigerian letter fraud ($5,100), check fraud ($3,744), and other investment fraud ($2,695) complainants.
* Among perpetrators, 75.2% were male and half resided in one of the following states: California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The majority of reported perpetrators were from the United States. However, a significant number of perpetrators where also located in United Kingdom, Nigeria, Canada, Romania, and Italy.

In 2008, that ranking has changed considerably - Lottery scams are number one, followed by Auction scams, non delivery and check fraud

So are you telling me that most auction fraud is US in origin? And in 2008? Are you telling me that the majority of Lottery scams are coming out of the US? And that half of all the perpetrators of internet scamming live in 7 US states? 7 states responsible for over 50% of the global total of internet scamming. That's laughable.

And remember, those are the words from the site. I didn't make them up.

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:37 pm

Not the place and no time, you win, my perception of scam is a bit wider than most I guess.
303 million in USA, 208 million internet users, 2.2 million in jail, 13.8 mil unemployed, those mere 250.000 scammers are easy to beat.
CIA fact book, Hey it's their own info Laughing

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
Have a good one
beers!

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:49 pm

bill2 wrote:

2.2 million in jail...... those mere 250.000 scammers are easy to beat.

According to that calculation, well over 10% of inmates in US jails would be there because they've been convicted of scamming.

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:46 am

Any set of statistics on scamming is going to be skewed. What percentage of scamming victims even ADMIT to being scammed? And how much did they lose? I have a feeling that a large number of people who fell for the dead bank customer and over-invoicing scams never report it because they feel guilty for falling for something that might be illegal.

And many romance scam victims simply suffer in silence because they feel utterly foolish for having fallen in love with someone so reprehensible.

So I don't believe any statistics on scamming. It exists, wherever it's perpetrated, and I abhor it, whoever's doing it. I simply try to do my best to make people aware of what's out there, and I do my little bit to waste the love-lads' time.

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:04 am

^^ Not only that, but today's statistics on scamming aren't true tomorrow since X number of people are scammed every minute. The numbers are just estimates at best.

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