According to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, US Internet fraud complaints to federal, state and local agencies tripled from 16,775 to 48,252 between December 31 2001 and December 31 2002. Almost half (46 per cent) of referred complaints dealt with Internet auction fraud, while close to one-third (31 per cent) were about non-delivery of merchandise and non-payment. The highest median dollar loss was US$3864, which came from victims of Nigerian letter fraud. That was followed by those whose identity had been stolen ($2000 median loss) and check fraud victims ($1100).