Part A
The three basic categories of burglars are: (1) low-level, (2) mid-range, and (3) high-level. Categorizations were made according to the age and manner of committing burglary. Low-level burglars are usually amateurs and belong to the younger age group. Burglaries are committed based on opportunity alone or without planning. Once the opportunity to commit burglary presents itself, there is little time gap between the discovery of the opportunity and actual commission of the crime. Mid-range burglars are older than the low-level burglars. They usually have legitimate jobs and commit burglaries on occasion. They are not necessarily professional burglars. They are predisposed to planning so that there is likely to be some time gap between the discovery of the opportunity and the actual commission of the crime. They are also likely to exhibit greater skill in committing burglaries than low-level burglars. High-level burglars are also older than low-level burglars. They are professional burglars or commit burglaries as their source of livelihood, which makes the geographic scope of their crime wider. They are the most skilled. They are thorough in planning burglaries. They choose a target and make every possible preparation before doing the actual burgling. (Maguire & Bennet, 1982)
Part B
According to the FBI (2016), it investigates three activities that comprise mortgage fraud. The first activity comprises of emerging schemes. This refers to a broad range of illegal activities including ‘loan origination schemes’, ‘backward application schemes’, ‘fraudulently appraised appraisals’, ‘illegal property flipping’, ‘title/escrow/settlement fraud/non-satisfaction of mortgage’, ‘real estate investment schemes’, ‘short sale schemes, ‘commercial real estate fraud loan’, ‘foreclosure rescue’, ‘advance fee scheme’, ‘build bailout scheme’, ‘equity skimming scheme’, and ‘debt elimination or reduction scheme’. Majority of the cases falling under the emerging schemes category comprise ‘loan origination scheme’. This activity involves a borrower consciously providing false information on the loan application, particularly the overstating of income and understating of debt, in order to seek the approval of a loan application with favorable terms that would not have been approved or approved with less favorable terms without the false information. Although this activity is intentionally committed, thereby making it illegal, prosecution distinguishes between ‘loan origination scheme’ accompanied by the existence or non-existence of criminal intent. This activity without the existence of criminal intent, when the false information was used to obtain loan application approval to actually secure a home and with the intent to pay, is less stringently prosecuted. Provision of false information to secure a loan without the intention of obtaining a home and without the intent of making payment, is more stringently prosecuted. ‘Title/escrow/settlement fraud/non-satisfaction of mortgage’ is the next most investigated activity in this category. This is perpetuated by the borrower, an employee of the lending institution, or both parties by falsifying documents. A borrower may seek a loan that is actually used for another purpose other than the one stated in the application or an employee of the lending institution may approve a loan in order to obtain a cut.
Second activity investigated by the FBI (2016) under mortgage fraud is ‘house stealing’. This category involves the theft of another person’s identity by the perpetrator/s for the purpose of using the information on the victim to transfer the ownership of the victim’s real property to the perpetrator/s. It is commonplace for perpetrators to acquire a blank deed, fill in the information of the target individual as seller, and include the information of the perpetrator/s as buyer to make it appear like the transfer was legitimate.
Third activity that falls under mortgage fraud is ‘reverse mortgage’. The FBI (2016) explained this category as a legal financial transaction that can become a criminal act when abused by perpetrator/s. As a legal financial transaction, ‘reverse mortgage’ involves a loan agreement between elderly homeowners, those aged 62 or older, and lending institutions. Borrowers are not required to pay monthly mortgage, with the condition that payment of the loan plus interest will be charged against the selling price of the house when the borrower moves out or dies. Abuse of this financial transaction involves loans with excessive interest rate or fees for the lender to unjustly obtain the full value of the home. This could also involve tricking one spouse, who is least likely to die first, to be excluded the deed so that the lender can obtain payment earlier even if this means evicting the surviving spouse.
Part C
The United Nations identifies five categories of cybercrime, which are: (1) financial; (2) piracy; (3) hacking; (4) cyber terrorism, and (5) online pornography (Hill & Marion, 2016).
Financial cybercrime is perpetuated to steal financial information from targeted individuals or to disrupt the e-commerce of firms. Financial information can be stolen through phishing, malware, virus and other similar means. Financial information is used to make purchases or sold to buyers. Incidents of extortion or ransom of financial information have also been reported. Disruption of e-commerce can be perpetuated through viruses, denial of service, and e-forgery. These activities prevent online transactions on a website and perpetuate fraudulent transactions that amount to losses for online businesses. (Hill & Marion, 2016)
Piracy involves making an unauthorized copy or distribution of materials that are protected by intellectual property rights. This is a form of theft of property on the Internet, most likely for the purpose of marketing copies for a fee. Intellectual property rights exist to ensure that proprietary gains accrue to the owner of the protected property. As such, use of the property is subject to a fee. Stolen property sold at a cheaper price translates to losses for the property owners. Losses hinder the further development of new intellectual property. Software, films or motion pictures, music, and games are lucrative property that are most frequently stolen and distributed online. (Hill & Marion, 2016)
Hacking refers to the act of facilitating unauthorized access to a computer or network as well as the unauthorized exploitation of this access. This can be the end game in itself or it can be done as part of a criminal act. Access to a computer or network can be used to deface a website as part of a personal or political statement, steal protected information, embed information on a computer, destroy a network, extort owners of the information, and other illicit acts. (Hill & Marion, 2016)
Cyber terrorism comprises a separate category of cybercrime, even if it may involve activities falling under the other categories, because of the severity of the act and its impact. It can be perpetrated by hacking with the purpose of generating substantial harm or threat of significant harm to cause fear. Hacking of major banks with the possibility of causing economic collapse can generate widespread panic and fear. Hacking of nuclear facilities and basic utility services also causes serious public alarm. (Hill & Marion, 2016)
Online pornography is a form of cybercrime that utilizes online media to distribute pornography. Significant components of this illegal activity is the exploitation of children in pornographic activities and the easy access of children to online pornography. Online pornography is constantly evolving, with perpetrators devising new ways of exploiting adults and children in new forms of pornography as well as in using ways to entice or trick children to visit pornography websites. (Hill & Marion, 2016)
References
FBI. (2016). Key mortgage fraud scams. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/white_collar/mortgage-fraud/mortgage_fraud
Hill, J. B., & Marion, N. E. (2016). Introduction of cybercrime: Computer crimes, laws, and policing in the 21st century. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International.
Maguire, M., & Bennet, T. (1982). Burglary in a dwelling: The offence, the offender, and the victim. London: Heinemann.
