Internet Fraud

If you use the internet, you are at risk from internet fraud, because the internet is an easy and cheap way for fraudsters to cheat people. It means that if you want to buy something online or if you are asked to give some information about yourself, you may be at risk... So what is the phenomenon of "internet fraud", what types of fraud does it concern and how to avoid to become a victim of internet fraudsters?

The term "internet fraud" can mean any type of fraud scheme that uses not the only one online service - such as e-mail, chat room, message board or any Web site. "Internet fraud is a form of white-collar crime whose growth may be as rapid and diverse as the growth of the Internet itself", says J.J. Rush from the United States Department of Justice (USA). The main aim of such scam is just to obtain illegal money from individual or corporation or to steal confidential information. The Internet "scammers" don't know any national borders or boundaries, they don't respect any investigative jurisdictions, so you always must be discerning minded while surfing the Internet.

There are six main categories of Internet fraud, which includes other scams (by lookstogoodtobetrue.com):

• Pharmacy fraud;
• Identity fraud: hacking, identity theft, phishing/spoofing, spam, spyware;
• Financial fraud: cross-border fraud, romance scheme, advanced fee scams, charities fraud, debt elimination, investment frauds, job scams;
• Auction fraud: terminology, international auction fraud, escrow services scam;
• Sweepstakes/Lottery fraud: foreign lottery fraud, sweepstakes/prizes scam;
• Counterfeit payments fraud: counterfeit cashier's checks, counterfeit money orders.

So everybody should know how to avoid to become a victim of any internet scam. Here there are some offers, what to do if you want to take an action to buy online or just looking for some materials:

• Buy from the companies you know and trust.
• Use the Internet to research a company's history. You can find a lot of information on the corporate Web site.
• Guard your personal information. Give your credit card number only if you are making a purchase, never to verify your identity.
• Avoid judging reliability by how nice or polished a Web site seems. It is easy and inexpensive for anyone to create, register and promote a Web site.
• Avoid downloading programs just to see pictures, listen to music or get access to other features from Web sites with which you are unfamiliar. You could end up downloading a computer virus that wipes out your computer files. (http://www.ehow.com/)

All in all, if you don't respond to shady mails, it makes difficult for the "scammer", who uses all types of excuses, explanations and offers, to lead you away from common sense and to become "frauded". So, scepticism is the best defence, and if any offer looks too good to be true, it can be a fraud...