Internet fraud reports have tripled since IFW began. There were 389 made in 1996, an average of 32 per month, while there have been almost 700 in first seven months of 1997, an average of nearly 100 per month.

The most frequent Internet fraud reports are about:

1. Internet and On-line Services
...free Internet access promised with purchase of software that was never provided; paid for password to access pictures but never received it; downloaded viewer to see pictures and was hit with undisclosed international phone charges; breeder paid to place ads on web site for dogs she raises, never got ads, and company now out of business.

2. General Merchandise
...sales via unsolicited e-mails, newsgroup postings, chat room discussions, web sites, on-line classifieds for everything from T-shirts to toys, calendars to collectibles; merchandise not delivered, arrived in damaged condition, defective, or misrepresented.

3. Auctions
...offers through Internet auction web sites for antiques, new and used computer equipment, videos, games, etc.; items never delivered by sellers; value misrepresented; "shills" used to drive up bids; sellers try to raise prices after highest bids made.

4. Pyramids and Multilevel Marketing
...chain letters in cyberspace in which people pay to join programs with promise of big profits from membership fees paid by new recruits; false representations that the money made by recruiting others will go to charities; sometimes products are offered as part of membership, such as prepaid phone cards, but no money is earned for simply selling products or services to consumers, as in legitimate multilevel marketing plans.

5. Business Opportunities and Franchises
...investments in "Internet malls" that advertise goods or services in cyberspace; purchases of ATM machines that will supposedly be leased back to seller and generate profits for buyers; potential earnings misrepresented or unsubstantiated; promised business assistance never provided.

6. Work-at-Home Schemes
...the old "envelope stuffing" schemes in which consumers are told they'll be paid for addressing envelopes, but actually receive instructions on how to sell others information on how they can make money stuffing envelopes; promises of work as an answering service or approving credit card applications; computer-related work-at-home scams requiring the purchase of equipment or software to produce things like computer graphics that will supposedly be bought by companies.

7. Prizes and Sweepstakes
...win a free trip with payment of a registration fee, but you are required to buy a companion ticket at full price; prize in on-line contest turns out to be a discount price on a satellite service package; consumer supposedly wins cash but is asked for bank account number; "sweepstakes" winnings require advance fee to collect.

8. Credit Card Offers
...credit cards offered on web sites and via unsolicited e-mail, even if consumers have bad credit, with payment of advance fee; fees of as much as $100 paid but credit cards never received.

9. Books
...manuals on how to hypnotize people; listings of celebrities' phone numbers and addresses; books on how to stop paying taxes, speed reading kits, and other self-help guides that are never delivered.

10. Magazine Subscriptions
...magazines never received from companies falsely representing themselves as subscription services for well-known magazine publishers, offers to consumers outside of the U.S. club memberships to get magazines at lower prices than normal foreign rates, or making other false claims of discounts; multiple debits from consumers' bank accounts for magazines when only one debit was authorized.

*(reported to Internet Fraud Watch from January - July 1997)