Financial Fraud and the InternetDet. Missy Coyne

Baltimore County Police Department

Goals• To define Social Networking and it’s dangers• To be able to identify fraud related crimes and

scams that occur on the Internet• To discuss Identity Theft and credit card fraud• To understand the difference between a “breach”

and a “skim”• To discuss safe practices while using the Internet

DefinitionCybercrime is criminal activity done using computers and the Internet. This includes

anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank

accounts. Cybercrime also includes non-monetary offenses, such as creating and distributing viruses

on other computers or posting confidential business information on the Internet.

Definition obtained from www.techterms.com

How do people access the Internet?

• Internet Service Provider (ISP)

• Cell phone

• Tablets

• Gaming System– Playstation 3– Xbox 360– Wii

What do we get from the Internet?

• Social networking sites• Email• On line chatting• On line gaming• Access to Financial Institutions• Access to Retail websites

What is a “social network site”?• Social Network Sites are defined as “web-based services

that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-private profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site”. 2007 Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11.

Examples of Social Networking Sites (SNS)

• Myspace.com

• Facebook

• Match.com

• Plenty of Fish– Free Site

• Christian Mingle

Facebook• Harvard ONLY SNS in early 2004• Started supporting other colleges but they

had to have university email addresses associated to those institutions

• 2005, opened up to high school students, professionals inside corporate networks, and eventually, everyone.

Dangers of SNS’s

• Cyber stalking

• Cyber bullying/ threats

• Disclosure of private information

• ID Theft

• Take over or create pages

Dating Web Site Dangers• After communicating for a period of time, the individual

indicates they have a friend in another country that needs assistance and convinces the subject to send money to the person in the other country.

• Similar scenario but ask the individual to send packages to them because they can’t receive the packages where they are.

Cyber Stalking• Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet to “Stalk”

someone. • "Stalking is a form of mental assault, in which the

perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom he has no relationship (or no longer has), with motives that are directly or indirectly traceable to the affective sphere. Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect). Wikipedia

Cyber bullying

• Cyberbullying is being cruel to others by sending orposting harmful material or engaging in other formsof social aggression using the Internet or other digitaltechnologies.

– Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use

Lack of Laws for Adult based crimes

Giving your personal information to individuals you

haven’t physically met

Fraud Related Computer Crimes

• Phishing

• Phishing– Emails or phone

calls that appear to be from legitimate companies asking for your information.

Fraud Related Scams• Jobs

– Reshipping

• Craigs List– Room mates– Items– Vacation rentals

• Other Fraud Scams

RESHIPPING SCAM

• Victims are usually contacted by instant message (IM) or online personal ads

• Suspects are from African Country (Nigeria or Ghana). They start “chatting” and a personal relationship develops

• Eventually they will ask victim to do favors such as accept deliveries and reship them to other countries

FOREIGN LOTTERY SCAMS

It’s illegal to play foreign lotteries in the United States

A Federal Statute prohibits mailing lottery tickets, advertisements or payments to purchase tickets in a foreign lottery

Publishers Clearing House

They do NOT call you on the PHONE

Fraud Related Computer Crimes

• Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud– Take over account fraud

• Wire Fraud

– Use of Credit card numbers

• Begins when criminals obtain personal identifiers of individuals with good credit by:– Recruiting individuals who have access to other

people’s personal information in the course of their employment – Collusive Employees

– Stealing documents from businesses that contain personal information

- Medical records, loan applications, etc.

Identity Theft

• Skimming – Theft of account numbers and track data

• Counterfeit Credit Cards

• Altered Credit Cards (re-embossing)

• White Plastic

• Lost/Stolen/Non-Received Issued (NRI)

• Misuse of Account Numbers

Types of Access Device Fraud

“The replication of electronically transmitted full track data to allow or enable valid authorization to occur.”

Skimming

What are they stealing?Credit Card Number & Name

CVC & CVV

Discretionary (may includehome address or other identifiers)

Information embedded within Information embedded within Credit Card TracksCredit Card Tracks

Skimmers Capture all 3 Tracks of Information

Breaches

Intentional vs. UnintentionalSam’s Club vs Target

Breaches vs skimmingLocation of transactions

Internet Fraud Prevention• Don’t answer or open emails from unknown

sources• Don’t provide your personal information to

someone you don’t know• If it sounds too good to be true…it is• Look for secure websites….https:// when

conducting on line purchases• Check your financial statements regularly

Internet Fraud Prevention

• Use Anti virus and firewall protection to protect your system

• Don’t download software from unknown sites

• Use secure passwords for websites– Letters and numbers (characters if permitted)– Change often and don’t duplicate

Questions?