It'll all come out in the wash.

Daily reports on the growth of the internet are accompanied by similar reports on ever-increasing scams, rip-offs and dodgy transactions.

The classic Nigerian scam, technically known as a ‘419’ fraud after the Nigerian law outlawing the practice, has been easily adapted for email and is now fooling many unsuspecting, but incredibly naive, victims.

Full details of this and other scams can be found at www.scambusters.com, reviewed in our 8 March edition alongside other fraud-busting sites. But like internet scams, there are plenty more to look at. Invited to look up fraud sites, search engine Google alighted upon www.fraud.org.uk, which appears to be a mini portal for several organisations wanting to combat financial crime.

The site gives limited information on the organisations, but unfortunately not all the pages link through to the relevant site. For instance, there is no apparent link to the British Bankers Association, which can give you information on areas such as money laundering and anti-fraud training.

However, it does link to CIFAS, the credit industry fraud avoidance system.

It is not immediately clear who is behind the operation, but it appears the domain name was owned by the Association of British Insurers, which has a section on the site.

If money laundering is your major concern – as victim and not as a launderer – it is worth having a read of Billy Steel’s website.

Steel has been a campaigner against money laundering for several years, and his site, www.laundryman.u-net.com, is packed with information, and is an entertaining read.

The site has not been updated for a while, but has some good sections on the history of money laundering, and more importantly, the future.

There are some nice scare stories, such as the number of assassination attempts made on bank officials in Russia, which helps to drive home how serious money laundering is.

Hosted by Silkscreen Consultancy, a training organisation for financial services companies, and backed by World Money Laundering Report, www.countermoneylaundering.com offers briefings on the history and extent of money laundering, as well as online training.

The OECD’s Financial Action Task Force’s site, www.oecd.org/fatf, is also worth a visit.

Here you can read about the OECD’s 40 recommendations to combat national and international fraud and money laundering.

There is praise for the UK, with the site saying ‘the United Kingdom anti-money laundering system is a good looking and comprehensive one, which meets the FATF’s forty recommendations and indeed in many areas goes beyond them.’

The National Crime Intelligence Services’s website, www.ncis.gov.uk is impressive.

While covering areas such as football hooliganism and drugs, the fraud and money laundering pages show that the authorities treat financial crime just as seriously.

Coming full circle, the site tells you exactly what to do with those Nigerian ‘419’ letters.

OUR TOP FRAUD-BUSTING SITES: how to tackle financial crime on-line

www.fraud.org.uk

A nice but limited portal for anti-fraud organisations, lacking comprehensive links to maximise its potential.

**

www.laundryman.u-net.com

Billy Steel’s excellent, if slightly out-of-date, site with plenty of horror stories and conspiracy theories.

****

www.oecd.org/fatf

A worthy and informative website; the Financial Action Task Force has quite a few nice things to say about the UK.

***

www.ncis.gov.uk

Impressive site from the National Criminal Intelligence Service, with good information on financial crime.

****.