By J. DeVoy
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2009 report on internet crime, the District of Columbia is home to more cyber-criminals per capita than any other state or district. With 116 cyber-criminals per 100,000 residents, D.C.’s concentration of such perpetrators is higher than neighboring Maryland (29.72 per 100k) and Virginia (24.12 per 100k). More information is available in the full report.
Some other facts from the Internet Crime Complaint Center:
Cyber-crimes are so common victims often neglect to report them. But the number of complaints to IC3 jumped more than 22 percent last year to 336,655. The amount of money victims lost more than doubled to nearly $560,000 from $265,000 in 2008.
Non-delivery of goods or services is the most common crime, accounting for 1 in 5 complaints. Identity theft was next at 14 percent, followed by credit/debit card fraud and auction fraud. Each of those accounts for 10 percent.
The most costly crimes involved investment fraud, with $3,200 as the median dollar loss.
Men lost more to cyber-crooks than women overall, with the median loss to men at $650 per complaint. For women, it’s $500.
