Internet Fraud The term ‘internet fraud’ refers to any type of fraud scheme that uses email, web sites, chat rooms or message boards to present fraudulent solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or to others connected with the scheme.
Internet fraud may include spam, scams, spyware, identity theft, phishing or internet banking fraud.
Spam Scams
Spam is a generic term used to describe The power of the internet and email electronic ‘junk mail’ or unwanted messages communication has made it all too easy sent to your email account or mobile phone. for email scams to flourish. These schemes These messages vary, but are essentially often arrive uninvited by email. Many are commercial and often annoying in their sheer related to the well documented Nigerian volume. They may try to persuade you to Scam or Lotto Scams and use similar buy a product or service, or visit a website tactics in one form or another. where you can make purchases; or they may attempt to trick you into divulging your bank More information about scams is available account or credit card details. from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) SCAMwatch More information about spam is available website (www.scamwatch.gov.au) from the Australian Communications and the Australian Securities and and Media Authority (ACMA) website Investments Commission FIDO website (www.acma.gov.au). (www.fido.gov.au).
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Suggestions to prevent Spyware Phishing loss from Online Fraud
Spyware is generally considered to be Phishing is a technique used to gain •• Consideration of using a low-limit software that is secretly installed on a personal information for the purpose of separate credit card for online computer and takes things from it without identity theft. Phishing involves using a purchases to minimise the potential the permission or knowledge of the user. form of spam to fraudulently gain access loss if things go wrong. Spyware may take personal information, to people’s online banking details. As well •• Limiting the amount of personal business information, bandwidth or as targeting online banking customers, information you allow to be ‘the processing capacity and secretly gives phishing emails may target online auction public domain’ i.e.: social networking it to someone else. It is recognised sites or other online payment facilities. sites that could be used to assist in as a growing problem. Typically, a phishing email will ask an identity theft. online banking customer to follow a link More information about taking care of in order to update personal bank account •• Keeping anti-virus and firewall spyware is available from the Department details. If the link is followed the victim software up to date. of Broadband, Communication, and downloads a program which captures the Digital Economy (DBCDE) website his or her banking login details and sends (http://www.Dbcde.gov.au). them to a third party.
More information about phishing is available from the Australian High Identity theft Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) website (www.ahtcc.gov.au).
A large part of online crime is now centred on identity theft which is part of identity fraud and specifically refers to Internet banking fraud the theft and use of personal identifying information of an actual person, as opposed to the use of a fictitious identity. Internet banking fraud is a fraud or theft This can include the theft and use of committed using online technology to identifying personal information of illegally remove money from a bank persons either living or dead. account and/or transfer money to an account in a different bank. Internet More information about how to prevent banking fraud is a form of identity theft and respond to identity theft is available and is usually made possible through from the Attorney-General’s Department techniques such as phishing. website (www.ag.gov.au). More information about internet banking fraud is available from the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) website (www.ahtcc.gov.au).
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