Computer Crimes: Thefts - Essay Example

Computers are the gadgets that have made the road to global technological advancement move several miles. Combined with the use of the internet that brings people together allowing communication and exchange of information from different parts of the world just by the touch of the mouse, there is much in terms of both vices and virtues that this technology has brought amongst its users. 

The victim accounts range from your own bank account to social media accounts. The hackers can make a lot of money through your details and screw you up in the process. Unlike earlier when it used to be hard to collect evidence to prosecute cybercrimes, the current trend has seen most of the hackers who steal personal photos of stars in the nude to organizers of multimillion-dollar scams being brought to book. To show this, we’ll look at one recent case that has ended with the criminals in the dock.

Recently in January this year, 2014, an Algerian hacker by the name of Hamza Bendelladj was arrested in Bangkok. This followed a local police tip-off by the FBI agent who apparently had been tracking the 24 years old criminal for the last 3 years. Hamza was suspected of being behind a botnet based on the notorious Zeus. Using just one of a series of illegal transactions involving 207 banks and other financial institutions, he is alleged to have netted up to $20 million. He had just begun to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle and jetting around the world in a first-class just before he was caught up with.

Currently, Hamza is facing extradition to the US and a court case in the state of Georgia (Serge 2013). But what can we do to stop identity theft? One must ensure that they do not use public computers or WiFi to connect their personal information such as bank accounts or their social media passwords. Again, credit cards such as Paypal and master card also need not be connected to through a public computer and WiFi. Remember never to share your personal account information like bank account number and social security number with fraudsters.