One of the biggest online scams that has become increasingly popular are variants of the "work at home" scams. Particularly attractive to people who use computers a lot, the scam lures someone into thinking they can get paid for menial activities in their own house. More often than not, these turn out to be scams, and are enough to apparently leech millions of dollars a year. The FTC is cracking down on scams of this nature. Dubbed "Project FAL$E HOPE$" (how clever), more than 100 law enforcement agencies are teaming up to fight back at those that perpetrate the scams.
While the work at home scams are worldwide in nature and affect every country, it's unlikely this project will see much if any scope outside the United States. However, around the world, governments are paying more attention to online crime. Just yesterday we heard about 21 ebay scammers earning legal ire, and 2006 has been rife with stories of governments and companies chasing scammers.