The cost of global e-crime surged to a record US$240 million last year, with the United Kingdom ranking number two in the world for its number of cybercriminals.
The 2007 Internet Crime Report from online reporting body the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reveals that the United Kingdom ranks second globally behind the United States for the number of perpetrators of e-crime--accounting for 15.3 percent of the global total--and third for victims, with 1.1 percent of the total.
The report reveals a US$40 million jump in the cost of international e-crime over 2006, stemming from a total of 206,884 complaints to IC3.
IC3 is a joint operation between the FBI and the United States' National White Collar Crime Center. The organization takes international complaints about cybercrime, mainly originating from the United States.
FBI Cyber Division assistant director James E Finch said in a statement: "What this report does not show is how often this type of activity goes unreported. Filing a complaint through IC3 is the best way to alert law-enforcement authorities of Internet crime."
The most commonly reported crime was auction fraud, but non-delivery of purchases, credit/debit-card fraud, computer intrusions, spam or unsolicited e-mail, and child pornography were also included.
Nick Heath of Silicon.com reported from London.
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