Shildon, UK, once known for being the town where the country’s first railway journey began, is now dubbed the nation’s online fraud capital. More 24.6% of the e-commerce transactions done in Shildon, a town with a population of just 10,000, were flagged as fraudulent, said Andrew Goodwill, a director of The 3rd Man, a security company that specializes in preventing credit-card fraud.

It only takes a few fraudsters to make you No. 1 when the population’s that small, but Shildon’s criminals seem to be an especially inventive lot.

One crime that stands out: an impostor who frequents online dating services and recruits unwitting victims to act as mules for stolen goods. By posing as a British soldier stationed in Afghanistan, the fraudmeister asks his online love interest to collect gifts sent to him and forward them to his brother in Ghana.

In the global economic downturn, there seems to be a spike in online criminal activity — and it only makes sense that in small, backwater towns hit with tough times there might be even fewer opportunities for employment and income. Cybercrime, for those who don’t get caught, can be a very temptingf “job.”