FTC TESTIFIES INTERNET IS 'FERTILE GROUND' FOR FRAUD

摘要

The boom in e-commerce has created a "fertile ground for fraud," forcing federal regulators to quickly hunt for ways to combat fraud while the Internet still is in its infancy, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official told a congressional panel recently. In testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on commerce, trade, and consumer protection last month, Eileen Harrington of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection said that the FTC received less than 1,000 Internet fraud complaints in 1997. Last year, however, Internet fraud complaints totaled 25,000, comprising some 26 percent of all fraud complaints logged by the FTC.