Nigerian Letter fraud made up nearly 15.5% of complaints. This refers to a well-known on-line scam. An e-mail, purporting to be from the Nigerian government, requests use of the recipient’s bank account for a transfer of millions of dollars. The recipient is told he or she can keep a percentage.
When account details are provided, the scammer withdraws all savings from the victim’s account. This scam netted an average of more than $5,500 per victim. One victim lost $78,000.
Non-deliverable merchandise and non-payment accounted for 20.3% of complaints. Among other findings, identity theft cost around $3,000 per victim, and investment fraud around $1,000.
Complaints filed with the IFCC totalled 49,711 in 2001. The reported losses totalled $18 million.