Calling the crackdown “Operation E-Con,” Ashcroft said that since January 1st, law enforcement officers have conducted 90 investigations that led to the arrest of 135 people and seizure of $17 million. In an effort to contain skyrocketing Internet fraud , Attorney General John Ashcroft on Friday announced a nationwide crackdown on cybercrime that netted more than 100 suspects who allegedly bilked 89,000 victims out of an estimated $176 million. Calling the Internet a “haven” for con-artists looking to scam consumers, Ashcroft said more than half of all consumer fraud complaints now involve the Internet, up from 31 percent three years ago. In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission received 102,000 Internet-related fraud complaints. “The Internet enables criminals to cloak themselves in anonymity, making it imperative that law enforcement act more quickly to stop newly emerging schemes before the perpetrators can disappear in the World Wide Web,” Ashcroft told a news conference. Full Story
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