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"If it sounds to good to be true, it
probably is"
The occurrences of computer crimes are
getting to be so frequent that it is hard to keep up with them. Frauds, hoaxes,
harassment, pedophiles, Identity theft, you name it and it happens here just
like any where else.
Awareness is the best way to prevent
becoming a victim of a cyber crime. There are a large number of web sites dedicated to these
issues and many Police Departments across the country have investigative units
that work solely on computer related crimes. We hope to provide some guidance
here and resources where you can go for more information.
Internet Fraud
 Have
you ever received an e-mail from someone that said they were a financial officer
in another country that was looking for someone in the United Sates to help them
get money transferred out of that country? They tell you that the assets have
been frozen and they can only transfer the money to the U.S. and are looking for
you as a business partner. they offer you a substantial percentage for being
their partner.
There are different versions of this where the person
claims to be from Nigeria, South Africa, Great Britain, and so on.
Examples of these can be found at
http://internet-fraud.com/internet-fraud/contribution-mk.htm or conduct a
search for internet fraud and you can find more.
Other variations of this same fraud are that they are buying
cars from the U.S., you have won a lottery or sweepstakes, or you have inherited
some large sum of money from a distant relative.
The fraud is perpetrated in different ways. The first is that
they ask for your bank account number so they can wire transfer the money into
your account, once they get this they empty your account and in some cases take
out credit cards.
Another method is they will send you money orders with
instructions to cash them, keep your percentage and send them the rest. The
money orders will be forgeries and when the victim cashes them they have
committed a felony and are now responsible for reimbursing the money to the
business where they cashed them.
In all of these cases the criminals are usually in another
country and are insulated from prosecution. It is difficult if not impossible to
get a victims money back from these persons.
Phishing
Have you ever received an e-mail that said
your bank account, credit card, E-bay account, internet service provider, or
something similar had been compromised and you needed to verify you user name,
password or other information? Usually there is a link in the e-mail for you to
click and go to the web site. You click the link and it looks like a legitimate
web site, but chances are it is not. A clever hacker has sent you something to
fish for your personal information.
These hackers will copy the original web site login page and
in some cases when a person enters the information they are directed to the real
web site so no suspicion is aroused. In the back ground however, the hacker has
received your information via e-mail or some other download.
The legitimate organizations or groups will not send out
e-mails soliciting this information. If your information has been phished you
may have to cancel accounts and go through the tedious process of recovery as in
any other identity theft.
Another way your information is phished is with "Spy Ware"
and other viruses. Spy ware ranges from counters that log the internet sites you
go to to data miners that are looking for your personal information on your
computer. Make sure you have Anti-Virus software installed on your computer and
it is up to date. Install Spy ware such as
Ad-Aware Se and run it frequently to remove spy ware. Clean your cache and
temporary internet files frequently.
There are millions of legitimate transactions conducted on
the internet daily with no problem. A little prevention can keep you safe as
well.
 Hoaxes,
Spoofs, Tall Tales
There are millions of spoof e-mails
running the internet. Everything from giant alligators in local lakes to tales
of free money for passing along e-mails from Bill gates. Unfortunately there are
allot that tug on your heart strings with stories of missing children or those
that induce fear by telling you that if you flash your headlights at a gang
member they will shoot you.
We receive many calls from folks who are concerned when they
get these types of e-mails. One of the best sources for finding out the
legitimacy of these is going going to
Snopes.com and searching for the subject. It is amazing to see how many
"Urban legends" there are and how long they have been circulating on the
internet.
"MY SPACE" AND "XANGA"
We frequently receive phone calls from
parents and other concerned individuals asking, "Have you seen this stuff on My
Space"!!
Police Departments across the country monitor
sites like My Space and Xanga to track pedophiles and check for other criminal
activity. The Pittsburg Police Department routinely monitors traffic on these
types of
sites as well.
Sex offenders use these sites as prowling grounds looking for
their victims. We have worked more than one investigation where someone has been
harassed or stalked by someone who found the persons information on one of these
sites.
Youth mistakenly believe that only their teen age friends see
what they post and some think their postings are private. ANYTHING THAT IS
POSTED ON THE INTERNET IN THESE FORUMS IS "PUBLIC DOMAIN". Anyone can
access it and allot of people do. To open a My Space account a person is
supposed to be at least 14 however there is no age verification process so
locally children as young as ten have sites.
A persons age is listed on their profile and most of the
sites have an add on "Survey" and they list their full name, their birthday,
parents names, and enough personal information that someone can easily find
their phone number and address or steal their identity, it also helps some of
these criminals that users
have their photo pasted on their public profile page or in their pictures. Even if the
profile is set to "Private" it can be hacked with little trouble for someone
that knows what they are doing.
There are millions of people using these sites and most are
honest folks but there are hackers galore gleaning information from these sites,
the add on graphics are rife with spy ware, and the people logging onto the
sites are inundated with profanity, nudity and violence. You will be shocked to
see the language used and the pictures posted.
"So What Do We Do"?
Every parent should monitor what their
children are doing on the computer and if they have a site like My Space, Xanga
or any others, read it and see what is on it. This is not a diary that is under
a mattress but is information out there for the world to see. One of the best
guides available on line is
"Parents Guide to My Space" .
The following was taken from this guide:
Most teenagers are intelligent, vibrant people who
understand the consequences of their actions. They don’t
necessarily need to be deprived of participating in this MySpace.com phenomenon but they do need some guidance in
what they should watch out for while on MySpace. Parents and
children need some guidelines to help them understand the
good and bad side of MySpace and how to navigate it.
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Guidelines for Parents
1.
Make sure the computer your child is using is in
a public place, such as the living room , and
not in their private bedroom. Placing the
computer in a group area will allow parents to
see exactly what their teenager or young adult
is doing online and allow them to monitor the
activities on the computer.
2.
Don’t allow your teenager to password protect
their identity on the computer. Parents should
have full access to the computer to monitor the
child and know exactly what your teen is doing
on the computer.
3.
Talk to your teen and insist that no
compromising personal information is added to
their profile such as their last name, school
they attend, place of employment, address, phone
numbers, date of birth, or where they hang out.
4.
Talk to your teen about not using a real photo
of themselves. If they must have a photo advise
them to use a fake or modified photo or an anime
(popular Japanese artistic drawing). This
provides some anonymity. Their real friends will
already know what they look like.
5.
If you suspect your teen is doing something
inappropriate online, try to find their profile
and talk to them about it. If they aren’t
forthcoming about it, you could install parental
filtering software or a keylogger to change
their minds.
6.
Ask your teen not to interact with people who
are over 18 unless they know them personally.
They may end up receiving some material that was
meant for adults instead. Although, a person’s
age could be forged, most predators will
probably fake their age to be younger instead of
older.
7.
If you are over 18, don’t flirt with minors. Be
an adult.
Guidelines For Teens and Young Adults
1.
Build your site keeping it PG-rated. Avoid
inappropriate comments, sexual imagery, and
adult themes. This will keep your parents
satisfied and also keep your site from being
taken down by MySpace.com management or others
who find it inappropriate.
2.
Don’t list the city where you live or any other
personally identifiable information.
3.
Never use MySpace to threaten or abuse anyone.
Your presence on MySpace can be tracked by IP
address and other means. Don’t do anything
illegal or there can be consequences.
4.
Never share your MySpace email address with
anyone or your profile may be the target of
hacking if anyone discovers your password.
5.
Don’t try to circumvent access restrictions to
MySpace or other sites that your school may have
in place. Doing so may lead to disciplinary
actions from your school.
6.
Avoid indirect links to adult web cams or
adult-oriented sites. Such links can bring the
wrong person to your site or be reason for your
site being banned by MySpace.
7.
Don’t be someone you are not. If you are 16, be
sixteen and don’t try to act 25. You may not
like the outcome.
8.
Don’t judge a profile only by the comments on a
page. Many people with hundreds of friends may
not have the time or energy to delete
questionable posts with objectionable material
made by so-called friends.
9.
You don’t need to accept all friend requests. Be
sure to deny or block users that harass you,
spam you, or look suspicious. Use your privacy
settings to hide your online presence and only
accept friends that you know. |
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