The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is an organization that takes Internet FRAUD complaints from consumers and reports cases to authorities for investigation. The IFCC is a joint project between the National White Collar Crime Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The center maintains a database tracking Internet fraud complaints and biannually publishes and publicizes INTERNET fraud activities. In 2001 the highest percentage of complaints was auction fraud (42.8 percent) followed by nondelivery of merchandise or payment (20.3 percent). Internet auction fraud, the misrepresentation of products for sale through on-line auctions, has been the number-one type of Internet fraud since the creation of such auctions. Often, the fraud involves the sale of name-brand merchandise, which when received is a “knockoff” (an illegally produced copy of inferior quality), like the $15 Rolex watches and $25 Gucci bags Americans have purchased abroad on the street or in flea markets. In 2001 the average on-line auction fraud cost consumers $478. The major on-line auction companies have attempted to reduce this problem through buyer-rating surveys and increased policing of their auction services, but it remains a major problem. In 2001 the IFCC ranked an Internet version of the “Nigerian money-order scam” as its third most frequent complaint. In the Nigerian money-order scheme (named after the 1980s letter scams frequently starting from Nigeria), the solicitor claims to be a Nigerian government official or widow of an official with access to an unclaimed bank account with a huge amount of money. The solicitation offers a percentage of the funds if the recipient will help transfer them to a U.S. bank account—the recipient’s account. After getting the account information, the defrauder takes the money. In 2001 the average Nigerian money-order fraud cost consumers $6,542. A variation on the Nigerian money-order fraud involves a Russian claiming a loved one died in the World Trade Center after depositing millions that must now be claimed. Internet fraud tends to be similar to other consumer fraud. In addition to the top three categories, other types of reported Internet fraud involve Internet access services, information adult services, computer equipment/software, work-at-home offers, advance-fee loans, credit-card issuing, and business opportunities/franchises. Other groups also track Internet fraud, including the Department of Justice and the National Fraud Information Center. In addition to the kinds of Internet fraud already mentioned, the Department of Justice scrutinizes marketmanipulation schemes. In this type of fraud, criminals use investment chat rooms to “pump” up interest and speculation in a stock and then sell their shares before the company whose shares are being touted refutes the false rumors. A variation in this scheme involves selling a company’s stock short and then disseminating negative false information, driving the stock price down.