WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Think online security has stabilized safety on the web? A report by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center may leave room for worry.

A 2007 Internet Crime study shows reported fraud losses of $240 million in the United States, which is a $40 million spike over 2006.

The number of reported crimes totaled 206,884 last year, the study showed. Of those, 90,000 were serious enough to trigger active investigations.

FBI officials say those numbers would be higher if more people actually reported Internet crimes.

“What this report does not show is how often this type of activity goes unreported,” FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James E. Finch said. “Filing a complaint through [the FBI] is the best way to alert law enforcement authorities of Internet crime.”

Financial activities such as auction bidding and credit/debit card transactions were the most widely reported, though non-fraudulent crimes such as computer intrusions, spam and child pornography were also included in the total.

Internet users should not let their guard down simply because they may feel safe in the privacy of their home. The same types of crimes users fall victim to online occur elsewhere, according to FBI spokeswoman Cathy Milhoan.

“There are the same crimes on the street, but they are taking place through a different avenue,” Milhoan said.

Consumers can take advantage of consumer alert e-mails sent by the FBI, which detail problem sites and list new threats to consider.

“[The FBI is] trying to tackle this issue on two fronts -- from a law enforcement standpoint and also to promote consumer awareness,” Milhoan said.

One available tool government agencies have produced is the Web site www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com, which features a test allowing people to determine their awareness level.

The test asks a series of questions ranging from security settings on the computer to what-if scenarios that spring up in e-mails.

“People need to ask themselves in every online encounter if their action would be the same had the person approached them on the street,” Milhoan said.

Milhoan advises web users to make sure firewalls are always up and to bear in mind that, just like a credit card, the computer has valuable information on it.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a joint operation run between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, which serves as a support system for agencies involved in the prevention of high-tech crimes, according to its Web site.