Internet crime is committed using one or more components of the internet such as chat room, e-mail or websites. Here perpetrators commit acts of wrongdoing on the World Wide Web. Internet crime involves the use of internet to make fraudulent representations to dupe the recipient or target victim. These crimes may cover, but are not confined to, sham employment or business opportunity schemes, fake advance fee schemes, non delivery of goods or services promised , computer hacking, identity theft, financial fraud and child victimization.
The parents should talk to their children as to what constitutes personal information and teach them never give it to people online. Parents may use filtering software that use white listing, which allows children access only to pre approved sites. Parents must teach children to immediately report of any offensive or dangerous e mail, chat or communication without deleting the same, so that law enforcement agencies can be informed.
Internet users should not open any e-mail or run programs from unknown sources. They should use unique passwords, change passwords at periodic intervals and run anti-virus and anti-spy software.
Internet crimes has proliferated into serious commercial ventures with the large scale sale of e-mail addresses, credit card numbers, bank account particulars are on the rise through under world auction sites.
Policing internet crimes is turning out to be an uphill task. Hackers use one computer in one country to hack another computer in a different country making it difficult to track them down. Changing e-mails used in virus attacks to destroy the trail makes identification difficult. Moreover, ‘phishing’ e-mails also do not allow any regular pattern to surface.
