On Friday, U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released data where victims reported US$559.7 million loss in 2009, which was more than double in comparison to 2008 figures.

The most repeatedly reported scam was the one, which used FBI's own name to try and maneuver victims into submitting cash or confidential information. One such case was when an e-mail claimed to be from FBI

Deputy Director, John Pistole. Here the scammers tried to ploy people into paying bogus fees in lieu of an even larger sum of money, a payment that never arrived.

Last year, out of 336,655 complaints that the IC3 received, 16.6% were for FBI related scams.

There was a 22.3 % increase in complaints for 2009 as compared to last year. Around 257,284 complaints were reported while $265 million losses were registered.

The FBI said that other frauds included non-delivery of goods or payments, which is a common form of fraud on online markets such as eBay. Advance-fee fraud like the John Pistole scam, and identity theft were also common. Scams relating to false antivirus software were also seen in 2009.

According to some victims, they received an email threatening murder if they did not send $800 to the U. K. in 72 hours.