FBI Hoaxes Boost Online Fraud: Via Threat Level.

Online fraud in the United States doubled to a reported $560 million in losses last year as illicit phishing expeditions by thieves posing as the Federal Bureau of Investigation represented the biggest consumer complaint, according to a Friday government survey.

The e-mail phishing scams represented 16.6 percent of all complaints. The next closest category, at 12 percent, concerned consumer unhappiness about being billed for products never ordered or received, according to FBI data unveiled Friday.

Overall, the number of reported dollar losses stemming from online fraud doubled in 2009 from the year prior.

The authorities last year received 336,655 complaints, a 22 percent increase from 2008, according to the data.

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