The impact and use of technology in policing and the courts is a primary tool for police/courts to be productive and

Running head : THE SOPHISTICATION OF HIGH-TECH CRIME

The Sophistication of High-Tech Crime

Abstract

Today , there are creative ways that scammers and schemers commit crimes . The internet , identity theft , cellular phone scams , and the news are the most popular means . A thief can concoct a scheme from a news headline . A recent scam is those claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS ) or the Social Security Administration trying to obtain personal information such as a social security number to deposit your rebate check directly into your bank account . Consumers receive

br warnings frequently about giving personal information to unsolicited callers . Most banks and other companies such as Pre-Paid Legal offer protection against identity theft by monitoring your credit

In the twenty-first century , most consumers use the internet for everything . One can pay bills online , look up information , play games merchandise , and even check voice mail messages . Our children spend much time on the internet therefore , they can fall victim to online predators . Child pornography is being distributed . Credit card numbers and home addresses are being accessed . They are hacking confidential systems and personal home computers to obtain or delete information and planting harmful viruses that destroy entire systems (Lockyer , i

As consumers , we can protect ourselves . As parents , we can put parental controls on our computers so that our children cannot access certain websites . It is also wise to talk to children about the internet

Child molesters frequent chat rooms online (Lockyer , 1 . They lure children with the promise of friendship and material things . Their goal is to obtain personal information such as an address or telephone numbers . These pedophiles may also wish to share illegal photographs of minors and lure them into illicit sexual relationships (Bauchner 86 . We see this often with teens . A girl is chatting online with a new male friend ' when her parents are out of sight . He suggests meeting in person since they have a great online relationship . She agrees to meet him . Following that , she ends up missing , raped assaulted , or dead . We see movies like this often on the Lifetime movie network . They are usually based on actual events

Even as adults , we must be leery of chat rooms . Many lonely people frequent chat rooms in hopes of finding companionship . Anybody can make themselves sound dreamy online , but that may not be the case in reality They could be mentally unstable . Therefore , it is not wise to reveal too much personal information about ourselves to strangers

The internet is also full of scams . Pyramid schemes are popular Pyramid schemes focus on recruiting new members , not selling products (Lockyer , 7 . The one or two initiators of the scheme are the only ones receiving profits

Another internet scam that exists is spoofing . Spoofing is the practice of creating a fake Web site that closely mimics a legitimate site in for the malicious Website creator to extract personal information from users of the legitimate site (Bouchner , 56 . These fake sites usually contain the same...