According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a nonprofit organization run by the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, 2008 was the biggest year ever for reported cybercrime incidents.

ChannelWeb reports that the ICCC's annunal report shows incidents of Internet-based crime rose by 33 percent last year. Compared to $239.1 million in 2007, fraud losses from cybercrime reached $264.6 million in 2008. CNN.com notes that the three most common complaints were non-delivery of promised merchandise, online auction fraud and credit card fraud.

John Kane, director of the National White Collar Crime Center, says there have already been 40,000 incidents in the first quarter of 2009. Kane cautions that these numbers are just a small sampling of an ongoing problem that is vastly underreported.

"It is our belief that these numbers, both the complaints filed and the dollars, represent just a small tip of the iceberg. Our own research suggests that as few as 15 percent of cases of cyberfraud are being reported to crime control agencies."

Along with its report, ICCC also issued an extensive list of tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of online fraud, which the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has handily provided. The prevention tips are broken into categories corresponding to common complaints.