CYBER SCAM

WHAT IS CYBER SCAM ?

Cyber scam is the crime committed via a computer with the intent to corrupt another individual's personal and financial information stored online. Cyber scam is the most common type of fraud and individuals and organisations need to be vigilant and protect their information from fraudsters.

Origin Of Cyber Scam:

At the beginning of 1970s, criminal regularly committed crimes via telephone lines. The perpetrators were called Phreakers. Actually, there was no real cybercrime until the 1980s. One person had another persons computer to find, copy or manipulate personal data and information. The first person to be found guilty of cybercrime was Lan Murphy, also known as Captain Zap,and that happened in the year 1981.He had hacked the American telephone company to manipulate its internal clock,so that users could still make free calls at peak times.

TYPES OF CYBER SCAM :

E -signature is a method of signing documents online .This can be created by copying the wet signatures or creating new one with the concerned platform .

Digital signatures are electronic signatures that are supported by digital certification. These certifications provide identity assurance for the user. This modern alternative is now being widely accepted and used all over the world.

Phishing

Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious software on the victim's infrastructure like ransomware.

Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term identity theft was coined in 1964.

Voice phishing, or vishing-the use of telephony to conduct phishing attacks. Landline telephone services have traditionally been trustworthy; terminated in physical locations known to the telephone company, and associated with a bill-payer

Credit Card Scams

Credit card fraud typically occurs when hackers fraudulently acquire people's credit or debit card details in an attempt to steal money or make purchases. To obtain these details, internet fraudsters often use too-good-to-be-true credit card or bank loan deals to lure victims. For example, a victim might receive a message from their bank telling them they are eligible for a special loan deal or a vast amount of money has been made available to them as a loan. These scams continue to trick people despite widespread awareness that such offers are too good to be true for a reason.

Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or permanently block access to it unless a ransom is paid. While some simple ransomware may lock the system without damaging any files, more advanced malware uses a technique called cryptoviral extortion.

Malware is intrusive software that is designed to damage and destroy computers and computer systems. Malware is a contraction for “malicious software.”

Cyber Terrorism:

Cyber terrorism is a major burning issue in the domestic as well as global concern. The common form of these terrorist attacks on the Internet is by distributed denial of service attacks, hate websites and hate e-mails, attacks on sensitive computer networks etc. Cyber terrorism activities endanger the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.

Cyber Warfare:

It refers to politically motivated hacking to damage and spying. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare although this analogy is controversial for both its accuracy and its political motivation.

 Distribution of pirated software:

It means distributing pirated software from one computer to another intending to destroy the data and official records of the government.

 Possession of Unauthorized Information:

It is very easy to access any information by the terrorists with the aid of internet and to possess that information for political, religious, social, ideological objectives.

Analysis Of Cybercrimes In India:

India is the second largest online market in the world with over 560 million internet users, Ranked only behind China. And it is estimated that by 2023, there would be over 650 million internet users in the country. According to the latest national crime records bureau NCRB data, a total of 27, 248 cases of cybercrime where registered in India in 2018.

In Telangana, 1205 cyber crime cases where registered in the same year. According to FBIs report,India stands third among top 20 cybercrime victim. The national cyber crime reporting portal (cybercrime.gov.in) which was started last year by the central government received 33,152 complaints till now resulting in lodging of 790 FIRs.

In fact, according to a 2017 report, Indian consumers had lost over 18 billion US dollars due to cyber crimes. In 2018, there were over 27,000 cases of cyber crimes recorded in the country, marking an increase of over 121% compare to the number of the cases as two years back.

Cyber Laws related to Cyber Scam :

Cyber crimes are anew class of crimes which are increasing day by day due to extensive use of internet these days. To combat the crimes related to internet The Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted with prime objective to create an enabling environment for commercial use of I.T. The IT Act specifies the acts which have been made punishable. The Indian Penal Code, 1860 has also been amended to take into its purview cyber crimes.

The various offenses related to internet which have been made punishable under the IT Act and the IPC are enumerated below:

Cyber crimes under the IT Act:

Tampering with Computer source documents - Sec.65

Hacking with Computer systems, Data alteration - Sec.66

Publishing obscene information - Sec.67

Un-authorised access to protected system Sec.70

Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy - Sec.72

Publishing false digital signature certificates - Sec.73

 

Cyber Crimes under IPC and Special Laws:

Sending threatening messages by email - Sec 503 IPC

Sending defamatory messages by email - Sec 499 IPC

Forgery of electronic records - Sec 463 IPC

Bogus websites, cyber frauds - Sec 420 IPC

Email spoofing - Sec 463 IPC

Web-Jacking - Sec. 383 IPC

E-Mail Abuse - Sec.500 IPC

 

Cyber Crimes under the Special Acts:

Online sale of Drugs under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act

Online sale of Arms Arms Act

Steps To Prevent Cyber Crimes

1.Never disclose personal information publicly on websites. This is as good as disclosing one's identity to a stranger in public place.

2.Always avoid sending any photograph online particularly to strangers and chat friends as there have been incidents of misuse of the photographs.

3.Never enter credit card number to any side that is not secured, to prevent its misuse.

Conclusion:

We are living in a digital age and cyberspace is not limited to one's boundaries,rather it covers an entire world. As a result cybercrime is increasing day by day in all the countries including India. The biggest challenge relates to cybercrime being its dynamic nature because of the ongoing evolution of digital technology. As a result new cybercrime methods and techniques come into practice.

Therefore cybercrime should be given as much importance as other crime happening in our society be it theft, rape, murder etc.