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Cyber crime, according to Dr. Debarati Halder and Dr. K. Jaishankar (2011), may be defined as “Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet (Chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (SMS/MMS)”.
Cyber crimes “may include espionage, financial theft, cross-border crimes, cyber warfare, frauds, and scams. The international legal system is attempting to hold actors accountable for their actions through the International Criminal Court. Cybercrime in the United States is estimated to cost $100 billion annually.
Netcrime refers to “criminal exploitation of the Internet.”
Computer crime refers to “any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target.”
Crimes that primarily target computer networks or devices include:
– computer viruses
– worms
– trojan horses
– rootkits
– denial-of-service attacks
– scareware
– ransomware
– malware
– other malicious code
Crimes that use computer networks or devices to advance other ends include:
– Cyber stalking, cyber bullying and cyber defamation
– Identity theft
– Information warfare
– Spam, forum spamming
– Scams like email scams, bogus tradesman doorstep fraud, courier fraud, short firm and long firm fraud, CryptoLocker ransomware, VAT fraud, money transfer fraud, energy saving devices scam, pump-and-dump fraud, Ponzi and pyramid schemes, letter of credit fraud, prime bank note fraud, redemption/strawman/bond fraud, health care fraud or health insurance fraud, advance fee scam schemes, identity theft, Nigerian letter or “419” fraud, telemarketing fraud, social networking scams, Internet investment fraud, Internet business scam, fiddle game scam, clip joint scam, chain letter scam, green goods scam, miracle cars scam, Thailand airport scam, Spanish prisoner scam, badger game scam, black money scam, pigeon drop scam, Jamaican switch scam, poetry scam, mystery shopping scam, Father’s Day shopping scam, internet clearinghouse scam, computer finance scam, romance scam and various other scams.
Fraud
Computer fraud is “any dishonest misrepresentation of fact intended to let another to do or refrain from doing something which causes loss”. In this context, the fraud will result in obtaining a benefit by:
– Altering in an unauthorized way. This requires little technical expertise and is a common form of theft by employees altering the data before entry or entering false data, or by entering unauthorized instructions or using unauthorized processes;
– Altering, destroying, suppressing, or stealing output, usually to conceal unauthorized transactions;
– Altering or deleting stored data;
– Altering or misusing existing system tools or software packages, or altering or writing code for fraudulent purposes.
Other forms of fraud may also take place using computer systems. Researchers have found a fraud triangle and a way of breaking it.
Obscene or offensive content
The content of websites and other electronic communications may be distasteful, obscene or offensive for a variety of reasons. In some instances these communications may be illegal. The extent to which these communications are unlawful varies greatly between countries, and even within nations. It is a sensitive area in which the courts can become involved in arbitrating between groups with strong beliefs. One area of Internet pornography that has been the target of the strongest efforts at curtailment is child pornography.
Harassment
Whereas content may be offensive in a non-specific way, harassment directs obscenities and derogatory comments at specific individuals focusing for example on gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation. This often occurs in chat rooms, through newsgroups, and by sending hate e-mail. Any comment that may be found derogatory or offensive is considered harassment. Harassment as defined in the U.S. computer statutes is typically distinct from cyberbullying, in that the former usually relates to a person’s “use a computer or computer network to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, or indecent language, or make any suggestion or proposal of an obscene nature, or threaten any illegal or immoral act,” while the latter need not involve anything of a sexual nature.
Threats
Although freedom of speech is protected by law in most democratic societies, it does not include all types of speech. In fact spoken or written “true threat” speech/text is criminalized because of “intent to harm or intimidate”, that also applies for online or any type of network related threats in written text or speech. The US Supreme Court definition of “true threat” is “statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group”.
Combating cyber crimes
A computer can be a source of evidence. Even where a computer is not directly used for criminal purposes, it may contain records of value to criminal investigators in the form of a logfile. In many countries Internet Service Providers may be required, by law, to keep their logfiles for a pre-determined amount of time. Generally, all e-mail traffic may be retained for a specified minimum period of time, which may range from one year to several years. Penalties for computer related crimes may involve a fine or any period of jail time, or both.
Cyber crimes, computer crimes, netcrimes, and such crimes may threaten a nation’s security and financial health, may harm individuals and organizations, and thus, these are actively combated all over the world.”
REFERENCES:
1. Halder, D., & Jaishankar, K. (2011) Cyber crime and the Victimization of Women: Laws, Rights, and Regulations. Hershey, PA, USA: IGI Global. ISBN 978-1-60960-830-9. http://www.igiglobal.com/bookstore/titledetails.aspx?titleid=50518&detailstype=description
2. Moore, R. (2005) “Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime,” Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing.
3. Warren G. Kruse, Jay G. Heiser (2002). Computer forensics: incident response essentials. Addison-Wesley. p. 392. ISBN 0-201-70719-5.
4. David Mann And Mike Sutton (2011-11-06). “Netcrime”. Bjc.oxfordjournals.org. http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/38/2/201
5. Annual U.S. Cybercrime Costs Estimated at $100 Billion; Study Casts Doubt on Previous, Higher Figures July 22, 2013 Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324328904578621880966242990.html
6. “Cyberbullying / Stalking and Harassment”. https://www.wiredsafety.org/subjects/cyberbullying.php
7. Susan W. Brenner, Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace, ABC-CLIO, 2010, pp. 91. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gsWQ-xgbLbUC&lpg=PA130&ots=RgwCYAMetX&dq=%22threats%20to%20harm%22%20cybercrime&pg=PA91#v=onepage&q=harm&f=false
8. Cyberextortion. http://www.ere-security.ca/PDF/Cyberextortion%20by%20DoS,%20Risk%20Magazine%20June%202006.pdf
9. Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations SI 2007/2199.
10. Computer crime. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_crime
11. Kenniff, Raiser. “New York Internet Crimes Laws”. http://raiserkenniff.com/nyc-criminal-defense/internet-crimes/
12. Computer fraud charges in New York. May 2011. Bukh Law Firm, PC – 14 Wall St, New York NY 10005 – (212) 729-1632. New York computer fraud lawyer. http://www.nyccriminallawyer.com/white-collar-crimes/computer-and-internet-fraud/
13. 2011 U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2G1.3(b)(3)”. http://www.ussc.gov/Guidelines/2011_Guidelines/Manual_HTML/2g1_3.htm
The Microsoft Window’s Service Center scam is something that has been active for quite a while. It all starts with a phone call with an overtly helpful customer care person at the other end. The main pitch is that there have been complaints from the user’s internet service provider stating the existence of a severe problem with the computer with respect to viruses. The how’s and why’s of the contact between the service provider and the service center is usually left to the victim’s imagination, which in most cases gets slowed down upon hearing the two terms “Microsoft” and “virus”.
The ploy has always been based around offering help to the user by asking them to open up Windows Event Viewer to check all recent activities and then downloading a cleanser program from a particular website. An offer of remotely controlling the machine from the caller’s side is also offered to ease the process. Upon downloading the cleanser program however the only thing that happens is that a malware gets installed on to the victim’s machine, which apart from showing that there are a huge number of viruses on the machine, also makes sure to collect all of the user’s personal data from the computer. The malware is also quite apt at concealing its true purpose as it is supposed to cling on to the machine and record all of the victim’s future online correspondences and data entries.
Apart from that what’s stated above, the other side of the card is not uncommonly, money. If someone provides a service, they are sure to charge for it as well. The repair fee is definitely quite exorbitant considering the irony of the word “repair” and to add to the woes of the victims- there never exists a way to get their money back upon their vivid of the scam.
The Works of the Trade
It is usual for a lot of computer users to have viruses on their machines. Computers might get slowed down and its performance might be hampered as well. It is however of absolute importance to use anti-virus softwares to clean up the mess instead of relying on distant phone calls offering help for the same.
The way the scam works is that internet users often end up downloading malwares on to their machines by surfing or clicking on unsafe websites or links. The scammers set out their web of viruses to see who gets caught in it. The moment someone gets caught, the call is made. Someone states that they are calling from Windows Service Center and asks whether the user has lately been having problems with their computer and asks them to check whether a certain file exists on their machine. The file as can be understood was planted by them even before the phone call was made.
From here on, the caller provides the user directions to download a virus cleansing software from a particular website or requests to take remote control over the user’s machine via softwares like Team Viewer and the likes. If a person is naïve enough to allow that then the fraudsters will claim control of the victim’s computer and readily access all of their private information. The cleansing software is in reality a malware whose job is to readily access data from the computer while maintaining that it is cleaning up and fixing the innumerable viruses on the victim’s machine. The worse part of this malware is that it attaches itself to the host machine and collects all data from future web surfing and confidential data entries that the user might make online, like email account details, banking details, passwords etc.
Investigation and Facts
Investigations have directed that such calls have their origin in Kolkata, India. Investigators in the United Kingdom have gone so far as to say that all these call center scams might also be headed by a single person. The report states that in theory the email addresses and phone numbers of the victims night be obtained by illegal access of sales databases of the software companies and / or the machines of the victims.
Fact for the freshers to keep in mind is neither does Microsoft calls its users to ask whether their computer is not functioning perfectly nor does it offer to help them and / or ask for their banking details for charging a fee for the same. The company never even sends an email either for the same purpose. As a matter of fact Microsoft has alerted major online payment organizations like PayPal and AlertPay to freeze the accounts related to several fraudsters.
Protection
In case one realizes that they have been scammed, the obvious thing to do is to stop using the computer and clean the hard drive before thinking of using it again. If credit card details were obtusely divulged, the issuing bank or company needs to be alerted immediately regarding the same. In case one had made payment to the fraudsters via their bank, a complaint can be sent to the bank requesting them to cancel the transfer. Finally it is advisable that one changes the passwords to their email accounts and bank accounts for safety’s sake and be careful not to divulge such secure details to anyone in the future.
Clean Internet Charity 