Fraud Techniques
Darryl E. Gennie
Professor Jesse Witherspoon
Augusta
SEC 405
19 July 2015
Strayer University
When you begin to examine how the internet and crime are related, you must first examine exactly what the internet is and how it works. The internet is a global system of computers and networks that are interconnected and service billions of users at any given time. This could be considered a cybercriminals’ playground. Because billions of computers are connected via a vast array of private and public networks including many government agencies, it is easy to see how a cybercriminal could obtain valuable information or unleash denial of service attacks that could cripple many of these systems. With the advancement
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I think that the most widely known would be identity theft. Due to the increase in people utilizing online shopping, online banking and online bill pay services, cybercriminals can easily hack a personal computer or the websites themselves, and retrieve information such as bank routing numbers and account numbers or credit card numbers that are used to complete these transactions. A second example that has gained recent publicity is cyber-bullying. Online social networks are becoming increasingly popular and children and young adults are bringing their disagreements to that platform and publicly or privately taunt, harass or even threaten each other. This has led to a recent increase in suicides among young people. A third example that has been profiled on 60 minutes many times in recent years is online sexual predators. Adult pedophiles use online chat rooms and social networks to engage in inappropriate sexual conduct with minors. This has escalated to a level so high that both State and Federal agencies have become involved with combating it via decoys and sting …show more content…
Civil courts resolve minor disputes between individuals. A major characteristic of the civil court system is the lower standard of proof and lower trial costs. Civil courts mainly punish offenders by awarding monetary damages to the victims, imposing fines on the offenders, or withholding privileges from the offender. Civil courts do not deal with prison time for offenses, so most computer crimes that are tried through the civil courts are minor offenses and result in fines. The more serious cases are brought through the criminal court
Today people of authority are experiencing a new wave of crime, transforming how criminals are using technology to invent new crimes and rewriting the traditional methods of how crimes were once committed (PERF, 2018). Due to many advances in technology it’s becoming easier for criminals to gain information on how to commit numerous illegal acts whilst remaining anonymous, this is making it harder for people in a position of authority to find the culprit as there is only little evidence (PERF, 2018). To prove that cyber crime is becoming more popular as there were almost three hundred thousand reports of people being victimised on the internet during 2016 (PERF, 2018), This shows that crime is becoming more based on online acts and it is seen as a fast and convenient way to harm and abuse the justice system as it is extremely easy to access without the added risk of risking their identity, The rise of internet based crimes is obvious in every day use as mostly everyone has a computer or a device that is connected to the internet although due to the existing systems of measuring crimes were created for felonies committed in a psychical form not over the internet as it is becoming harder for police and other authoritarians to create any new developments regarding minimising the new crime
Fraud cases are extremely serious events that affect a number of factors for those involved. Fraudsters take advantage of circumstances for his/her benefits, but cause surmountable damages to individuals and entities. The extent of the damages can destroy individuals’ dreams and lead entities to cease from existence. Fraudsters, however, are held liable for the crimes committed, which involve criminal and civil cases. Criminal and civil cases are prosecuted differently, involve different legal aspects and different consequences.
The agencies employed by governments to police the web in order to protect the vulnerable have seen an increase in child pornography and online fraud. The speed at which information can be distributed and the number of people that can be reached attracts those that are intent on causing harm. The term “cybercrime” is becoming more widely used. The financial gains that can be made and the anonymity the internet can provide, make the virtual world of cyberspace a haven for criminals. Although the internet has huge benefits for information gathering and social networking, in the wrong hands it can cause harm to the vulnerable and criminals are able to vanish into the underground with the use of false identities that are hard to track online.
Government: One of growing cyber-crime and very dangerous at high scale is cyber-crime against government. As terrorist may use cyber space to crack into the government or military maintained websites and can get access to the very secretive information or files which can damage the safety of the county and the citizens of the nation at large.
Just in the last decade, there has been a 29% increase in crimes committed against residents and a 22% increase for business losses due to online crimes (Meyer). Another large issue with technology is that they monitor an individualś every move, for example, a phone company, AT&T, was monitoring their customers phones to be able to “use your individual Web browsing information, like the search terms you enter and the Web pages you visit, to tailor ads and offers to your interests” (Silverman 282). Although the increase in such crimes can potentially cause many issues and obstacles for an individual, they do not physically harm anyone. Such crimes as internet fraud and any other crime that can be committed online, are all fixable and can be prevented. There are security systems that can help protect against frauds and prevent any more from occurring, which makes this issue much less crucial to stop. It is also possible to contact police and bankers to stop this from occurring and they can help you regain all of your losses. The government also has the NSA, the National Security Agency, to monitor all internet movements, which helps stop many of these issues. New technology has helped prevent an immense amount of street crimes, that without the internet, would have only continued to rise, while millions of people would have continued to be murdered.
4) In a criminal court case, the sentence can be a fine or jail time, or both. While in a civil court case, the defendant cannot go to jail, but can be forced to pay monetary damages to the plaintiff, or to return property. In the civil justice system, the primary purpose of a civil action is to recover losses and possibly reap punitive damages. In fact money and other similar damages are the main outcome in the civil justice system. In a criminal case, however, the fine will not go to the victim, but to the courts. In some cases, a defendant can be charged both civilly and criminally. Jail is reserved for sentences of less than one year’s duration, whereas prison is reserved for sentences greater than a year.
Just as technology has exponentially increased the level of communication and commerce, it has similarly expanded opportunities for criminal activity and victimization. The Internet can be used to commit crimes ranging from the release of a computer virus resulting in worldwide catastrophic damage to industrial espionage, from simple assaults to acts of terrorism, from child pornography to luring and sexual assault on children. Apart from the breadth of potential misconduct, the unique nature of the internet presents challenges not evident in the traditional law enforcement, such as questions of jurisdiction, evidence access and preservation, applicability of current laws, vulnerability of a virtually unlimited victim pool, and practical obstacles to the identification of perpetrators. In this investigation manual you will find the overview of a crime, conduct a seizure of evidence with pictures, what to do when conducting a search
Substantial differences exist between criminal and civil cases. Civil cases are usually between two people, or organizations, who have a personal or private disagreement. Criminal cases involve an offense which harms the entire community and whose solution is a monetary fine or imprisonment for the offender. The volition of criminal law rests with the state. The volition of civil law rests in the hands of the person who was harmed. Although differences exist between civil and criminal cases, each is resolved within the courts of law.
In a civil law violation, defendant will never go to jail/prison or executed. In a civil case, the losing defendant only has to compensate the plaintiff for losses they have occurred. In criminal matters, the state must prove that the defendant is guilty and in civil matters, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant is guilty. In certain cases, the burden of proof can shift to the defendant and they will have to prove their innocence. Mayhem, aggravated assault, and bribery are different from civil violations because they can be sentenced to serve several years in prison/jail, and pay a
The Department of Justice report entitled "Investigations Involving the Internet and Computer Networks" (2007) states that the Internet may be used by criminals for various reasons including the trading or sharing of information, concealing or assuming another identity, identifying and gathering information on victims and communicating with co-conspirators. The Internet may also be used by criminals for the distribution of information or alternatively misinformation and for the coordination of meetings,
The purpose of civil law is to “deal with the disputes between individuals, organizations, or between the two, in which compensation is awarded to the victim,” (“Civil Law vs Criminal Law.”, 2012). Civil law applies when there is a dispute between private parties, and the government is not involved. The lack of government involvement also leads to easier negotiations. Civil cases can be much more flexible since there is typically no law being broken and thus, no legal actions have to be taken. The less rigid civil law cases also generally allow them to be settled quickly and without controversy. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than half of general civil trials conclude in state courts, meaning they are able to reach an agreement and do not have to continue spending unnecessary time and money on the case (“Civil Justice.”, 2017).
The internet has brought upon a new revolution of global interconnection where contacting someone on the other side of the world is just a click away, but with this international phenomenon comes an increased susceptibility with unfamiliar technology. Internet crime is compiled of all non-physical crime with the aid of a computer. Although broad in definition internet crimes are largely composed of acts such as cyber fraud, ‘phishing’ (username and password hacking), cyber stalking and hacking. Internet crime does not pose an overwhelming issue in society in terms of its
Internet privacy is the security of a user’s personal data that is stored or published on the internet. The internet is an important part of every individual’s daily life. In today’s society, the internet is used by many different people for many reasons. It can be used for research, communication, and purchasing items. Without the internet, many things that are completed during the course of a day would be impossible or take time to complete. As people use the internet, everything is stored in a database that tracks and keeps any personal information that is entered by users. As users continue to use the internet to complete important tasks such as purchasing items and paying bills, their privacy and security become at risk. Although the internet can be seen to have a positive impact on society, it does have a negative impact. Since the internet can be accessed by anybody it can cause a lot of damage. Examples of internet risk include identity thieves, phasing, and scams. Due to things such as online shopping, banking and other e-commerce options, personal information is stored in the internet enabling many cybercrimes to occur. Cybercrimes are very similar to any regular crime; the crime just happens to take place on websites for criminals to hack and steal user’s information for their own personal benefit. Cybercriminals tend to attack users based on their emails, social media accounts, and web history because the most history about an individual is stored in those sites.
Within the last century, crime has gone from things like car crime, people trafficking, and terrorism, to cyber-crime, elder abuse, and organ trafficking. Crime is steadily becoming more and more electronic-oriented. “In the 1990s, a new era was ushered in, in which Internet technology reigned supreme” (Jaishankar, 2010). Although people are learning new ways to commit crime via electronics, crime rates have dropped since the beginning of the 21st century.
The Internet is a connection of computers across the world through a network. Its origin dates back to the 1960s when the U.S Military used it for research, but it became more available to the public from the late 1980s. The World Wide Web was created in 1989 and browsers began appearing in the early 1990s. Over the last 24 years, the Internet has enabled people to shop, play, do research, communicate and conduct business online. It has also become cheaper and faster in performing different tasks. As much as the Internet has done immeasurable good to society, it has also dominated people’s lives and brought with it an array of cybercrimes. According to Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way we Think,