Top 10 web frauds

The so-called "Nigerian money scam" is the fastest growing fraud on an increasingly dodgy internet, according to the latest figures from the US.

The cost of fraud is also spiralling upwards with almost double the amount of money lost in 2001 - $6.2m - compared to the previous year.

However, despite the rapid growth of the Nigerian money scam - in which victims are contacted by a Nigerian bank worker, or similar, hoping to get millions transferred into their account as a means of getting around complicated inheritance laws - fraudulent auctions are still the most common cons on the web.

A survey by the US National Consumer League (NCL) has produced a list of the top 10 most prevalent net frauds (click here to read the full list http://www.silicon.com/a53546 ).

The Nigerian money scam has grown 900 per cent in popularity since last year's survey, accounting for nine per cent of all reported fraud. It is particularly damaging because the average cost to victims, who hand over their bank details and other personal information, is around $6,000.

According to the NCL, users are lured by the millions of pounds offered to them, but all offers are false.

Only six per cent of the 28,655 users surveyed by the NCL said they hadn't received any potential scams in their email.

In accordance with the rise of the Nigerian money scam, this year's survey continues the trend of more and more frauds reaching the end user by email. Fifteen per cent of frauds are email-based, compared to 12 per cent in 2000 and nine per cent in 1999. However, the vast majority of frauds - 83 per cent - are still related to bogus websites.