5 most common types of cybercrimes
Cybercrime is highly prevalent in today’s technological era. Because cybercrime exists online, it exists everywhere. Every computer user must be vigilant.
Through Cybercrime, typically, no physical interactions occur, and this makes it difficult to prosecute and convict people.
Phishing scams:
Phishing is one of the main methods of social engineering attacks. Like any social engineering attack. Phishing tries to trick unsuspecting users into giving away personal information.
Cybercrimes are committed through the use of social media accounts, websites, bank accounts, or email. Attackers impersonate companies with poor security by creating fake profiles. The sites look identical to the real site, making them hard to differentiate.
To stay safe from phishing make sure you’re checking every domain that you get links to. Always confirm the legitimacy of every website. You can confirm some level of security, by whether it is displaying a padlock sign at the front of its URL.
Internet fraud:
This type of scam usually attempts to trick people into sending money. They will promise a return on investment of at least twice the amount sent. The most famous one is the Nigerian “419” scam which is named after the law it violates – Section 419 of Nigeria’s criminal code.
Another common fraud is linked to job postings. The victim is asked to pay some money as a prerequisite for paperwork or as part of an application fee.
When it comes to internet fraud, common sense is always our best defense. If something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Also remember that the majority of browsers will block malicious websites outright. If anyone hassles you about visiting a site, tell them not to worry!
Online intellectual property infringements:
There are three main types of infringement:
- Counterfeit and replica goods.
- Piracy.
- Patent infringement.
Counterfeit and replica goods can negatively affect consumers due to safety issues. Content piracy, meanwhile, is considered an intellectual property rights infringement which could result in the loss of revenue or damage many businesses.
Patents may be infringed upon by third parties who might not abide by the patent holder’s rules.
Identity theft:
Identity theft is very closely related to phishing scams. As a form of cybercrime using computers, they have existed much longer than the Internet. As the internet evolves it too has improved their reach and ease of execution.
There are two main categories of identity theft, depending on the type of information that was stolen. These categories include:
- Personal data theft: Having personal information like your name and address stolen.
- Financial theft: Having information like credit card information, money, or account details stolen.
The latter is worse because cybercriminals can make purchases charged to your account, or drain your bank accounts of money.
Online harassment and cyberstalking:
Online harassment and cyberbullying usually take the form of either a direct message (DM), comment, or post on social media or an email. The main goal behind these actions is to defame someone or hurt another person using written communication.
Cyberstalking may be the worst kind of harassment. It’s bad enough to realize that someone who doesn’t like you is stalking you, but it could potentially become even worse if they decide to reach out to everyone in your life to slander you and share lies.
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