Thu 24 Apr 2008
Internet Fraud Dupes Men More Often Than Women
Posted by Robin Bal under Personal Finance[19] Comments
When it comes to being taken in by Intenet fraudsters, men have a knack of losing cash, according to a new report from Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Data compiled from more than 206,000 complaints received by the U.S. ICCC shows that men lost U.S. $1.67 to every $1 lost by women on online fraud. The organisation says that buying patterns and human natureplay into the findings.
Historically men were more apt to purchase large ticket item like electronics… that could explain a lot of it. But with women now spending more online, the difference is also due to the fact that certain types of schemes tend to suck men in. Men tend to fall victim… to business investment schemes and some other schemes that have a higher monetary loss.
Investment fraud complaints, where the average loss is more than $3,500, were overwhelmingly submitted by men. Compare that to something like auction fraud, where men and women are frequently victimized. The average loss there is just over $480.
Men also tend to be victims of check fraud (average loss: $3000) and Nigerian letter fraud scams($2000). Overall Internet crime is netting the bad guys more money than ever. Total losses from 2007 complaints came to $239 million, up $40 million from 2006. The number of complaints was actually down for the second year in a row.
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