Cyber Crime: the Latest Ways to Steal Identity and Money - Term Paper Example

Cyber crime: What are the latest ways to steal identity and money? Cyber criminals have known that is less risky, less difficult, and more satisfying to steal financial information through identity theft than the traditional crime method like armed hold-ups in banks (Waterson, 2013). Identity theft refers to the stealing of peoples’ personal information or data that will enable the attacker to impersonate his or her victim. The more information the criminal might have on his or her victim, the more vulnerable the victim is to their money being stolen. There are four major methods these criminals use in stealing victims’ identity and money from their victims: phishing, old-fashioned method, use of spyware, and skimmers. Most of the cyber criminals are financially motivated, meaning that these attackers try hard to get information from people’s personal data or from victims’ computer processing power in order to make more money by stealing victims’ identity or spewing spam on behalf of their victims (Sunburn, 2012). Internet users must be aware of the real dangers that these cyber criminals pose. Users must know the dangers that they face when they open those innocent –looking mails, shopping online, conducting online banking, or accessing various social media networks (Inskeep, 2012). These attackers are after the numbers and names in their victims’ address books and they want to access their social networking or linking sites and steal their personal data such as credit card information, social security details, and bank account details. Cyber criminals use various online and offline methods they use in stealing their victims’ information. The most common methods these criminals use is phishing (Balkin, Eddan, & Grimmelman, 2007). With this method, the criminal sends his or her victim an email from an official-looking firm or familiar organization such as a retailer, government agency, a bank, or any other known group. The criminal sends an email that asks his or her victim to click or follow up a link, update or verify their personal information. The site the attackers send looks exactly as those of the genuine firm or agency’s website, making their victim feel safe and comfortable in handing over their personal data (Yar, 2013). Phishing method does not just occur online, some criminals operate their illegal business through the telephone. They pretend that they are the representatives of various reputable agencies or firms. They may ask their victims to verify their personal data (Bharara, 2012). Everyone is advised never to give out their personal information to anyone, not unless you initiated the conversation. The best thing to do when someone asks you to give them your personal information, request him or her to give you a number that you will call back and to check if it is genuine or legitimate. Scammers are increasingly spoofing on social sites such as Facebook and MySpace (Balkin et al., 2007). These sites have increased their security and they will always provide their users with various warnings that appear when they click on untrustworthy links. The security takes the users away from these links and it is vital for users to pay attention to these warnings (Sunburn, 2012). Cyber criminals use old-fashioned ways of stealing information of the victims. Preet affirms that most identity theft happen offline (2012). These criminals will access their victim’s information through lost or stolen items such as purses, wallets, tax or mail documents, credit cards and check books. Some criminals might go to the extent of going through their victims’ trash to find papers and discarded bills that might contain personal data (Waterson, 2013). According to a research conducted by Better Business Agency, 47% of the reported identity thefts are committed by neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family members of the victim. The criminals go ahead and trade their victims’ personal data amongst themselves to build a complete picture of individuals. When the criminals have a complete picture of their victims, it becomes easier to extract personal information from their victims. The criminal can do anything with the information they have when they have a complete digital identity of their target (Bharara, 2012). Cyber criminals use spyware to collect personal information from the victim without the victim even detecting that his or her confidential information are being stolen (Yar, 2013). The thief can access everything his or her victim’s activating and information such as purchases through online shopping, passwords, emails, and instant messages. Spyware exploits various web browser vulnerabilities with different “drives-by” downloads. It operates in such a way that the user is unaware that he or she might be downloading the criminal software. The criminal can bundle the spyware as a part of free software such games, web links, video downloads, music, screen savers, and email attachments (Balkin et al., 2007). Sometimes the internet user is fooled to download the software thinking that it might be a genuine program such as an update but in real sense it is a scheme that the criminals use to terrorize web users. A criminal can steal account or personal information from his or her victim’s driver’s license, passport, or credit card. Criminals use an electronic device (skimmer) to steal their victims’ information (Sunburn, 2012). The criminals swipe their victims’ card through the skimmer, and the information that is stored in the magnetic strip that is on the card is stored in the skimmer and then attached to a computer where the criminals will get the entire information of their victims. The criminals use this information to steal money. They use the money to buy goods online, borrow money, transfer money from banks, and open new bank accounts (Yar, 2013). Cyber criminals use mules to transfer money from their victims’ bank account to any bank account they have created. They send emails to their potential mules that they are offering them a mule job, which the only requirement is to have a bank account to where the money will be channeled. The mules keep a small percentage of the money when they have committed the cyber crime (Inskeep, 2012). There are four major methods these criminals use in stealing peoples’ identity and money from their victims: phishing, old-fashioned method, use of spyware, and skimmers. Criminals use phishing method to send their potential victims emails or links pretending to be an authenticated agency or firm. When the victim clinks on the link, the criminal is able to view the user’s details. The criminals use old-fashioned way to get information from their victims. They rob or steal purses or wallets that contain documents that have personal information that they use to steal their victims’ money. The criminals use skimmer devices in that they swipe their victims’ electronic cards and extract information from the computers. The criminals use spyware to lure their potential victims into downloading software that will expose their confidential information to the criminals. Identity theft is a big business that is conducted by gangs and internet uses are urged to be careful with untrustworthy links, be sensitive giving out their personal information online, ensure that their PCs have antivirus installed, and check personal bank statements regularly to detect any irregularity (Waterson, 2013). References Balkin, J. M., Eddan, K., & Grimmelman, J. (2007). Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked Environment (Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society). New York: NYU Press. Bharara, P. (2012). Asleep at the Laptop. New York Times , 3A. Inskeep, C. (2012). Rising Danger, Cybercrime 2012, Big Time Data Thefts. New Jersey: Wiley. Sunburn, J. (2012). How Exactly Do Cyber Criminals Steal $78 Million? Time, Business and Money , 4D. Waterson, D. (2013). Cyber Criminals - How They Steal Your Identity and Your Money. Digital Matters , 23-24. Yar, M. (2013). Cybercrime and Society. New York: SAGE Publications Ltd. Read More