Losses from the referred fraud cases also tripled.

The IFCC's annual Internet Fraud Report showed the center referred 48,252 fraud complaints to federal, state or local law enforcement authorities last year, compared with 16,775 in 2001.

The report said the loss from all referred fraud cases was $54 million, up from $17 million in 2001.

The 2002 annual report offers a recap of Internet crime hot spots by state, statistical information, and victim demographic data gleaned through complaints IFCC has received and referred through its online Web portal -- ifccfbi.gov -- from Jan. 1, 2002 through Dec. 31.

For the third straight year, Internet auction fraud was the most reported offense, 46 percent of referred complaints.

Non-delivery of merchandise and non-payment accounted for 31 percent of complaints, and credit or debit card fraud made up nearly 12 percent of complaints.

Among victims who reported a loss, the highest median dollar losses were found among Nigerian letter fraud, $3,864 (typically, someone receives a communication saying the scammer can access funds in a foreign account if the victim puts up money or gives the scammer an account number); identity theft, $2,000; and check fraud, $1,100.

California, New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois were the top five states for victims of Internet crime.

In cases where the alleged perpetrator has been identified, nearly four in five were male and more than half resided in California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

The IFCC also processed 36,920 complaints about computer intrusions, unsolicited e-mail, or SPAM, child pornography and other violations of law.

For computer-related filings that aren't considered Internet fraud, IFCC referred these to agencies and organizations that handle those particular complaints, the FBI said.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI's Innocent Images task force, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, the Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Secret Service are regular recipients of IFCC complaint information, according to the center.

Only one in four people contacted a law enforcement agency about their victimization prior to filing a complaint with IFCC.

In operation since May 2000, IFCC is co-managed by the Richmond-based National White Collar Crime Center (nw3c.org) and the FBI (fbi.gov).

A copy of IFCC's 2002 Internet Fraud Report is obtainable through ifccfbi.gov.