White collar crime is the subject that is not widely covered in mass media and is often made public only in cases when it is necessary for some political purposes. However, such little attention to it does not make white collar crime and its consequences less significant and less worth studying. Moreover, modern technologies and the Internet, in particular, have equipped white collar criminals with new and more effective means of achieving their ill-intentioned goals. A click of a button may not only allow criminals to steal millions or billions of dollars in a second, but it can greatly simplify any fraudulent manipulations or give access to top-secret information which, in our modern world, can certainly mean both power and money.
Although the term white collar crime was officially coined only in 1939 by criminologist Edwin H. Sutherland, the records show that the phenomenon of white collar crime has been recognized since ancient times. There is often much confusion about what can be referred to white collar crimes. The fact that there are many various terms naming the activities closely related to white collar crime contributes to the confusion. Thus, in addition to the term white collar crime, one may use such terms as elite deviance, economic crime, business crime, "suite" crime, political crime, avocational crime, technocrime, computer crime, invisible crime, etc. All in all, this variety in names reflects the variety in activities which can be viewed under the broader rubric of white collar crime. However, there are cases when different terms are used to name one and the same criminal activity. Generally, all white collar crimes can be characterized by a legitimate occupational context in which they occur, by an objective of economic gain or occupational success, and by absence of direct, intentional violence. Thus, white collar crimes are described as “illegal or unethical acts that violate fiduciary responsibility of public trust committed by an individual or organization, usually during the course of legitimate occupational activity, by persons of high or respectable social status for personal or organizational gain” (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 5).
The fact that white collar crimes are characterized by absence of intentional violence does not make them less serious as for economic and psychological consequences which such crimes entail. The scale of white collar financial frauds can amount to billions of dollars. Besides, the consequences may be not only financial ones. The officials’ neglect of their responsibilities may lead to health threats, deaths, and/or destruction. The psychological damage is also great. The feeling of having been cheated can affect all people’s further life. Thus, for example, investment frauds can deprive people of a possibility to retire or pay for necessary health services. The victims of the ill-famous Enron case lost their jobs, savings, and were left feeling angry and betrayed (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 52). Such examples prove that white collar crimes are not only a criminology problem, but an important social problem which should be taken seriously and dealt with appropriately.
The importance of white collar crime research increases with the globalization tendency that rules nowadays. A fraud or embezzlement can be committed by someone from another part of the world. The fast-developing sphere of information technologies as well as the Internet greatly simplifies the work of white collar criminals. Without leaving the comfort of their homes, technocriminals can get engaged in a number of fraudulent manipulations with finances or information, or both. People living in the developing countries are especially vulnerable to such types of crimes for the reasons of poor regulation and limited government resources for dealing with such activities. Moreover, there are numerous examples of large-scale crimes carried out for the sake of globalization.
As mentioned above, technocrimes, which also include more familiar computer crimes, are very widely spread nowadays. It is hard to imagine a present-day white collar crime which has been committed without any use of a computer, Internet, or some other technological device. And without any doubt, the role of information technologies will only grow in the future. This tendency is even reflected in the blockbuster Die Hard 4 with Bruce Willis starring. In the movie cyber criminals threaten to hack and sabotage the U.S. stock market, power stations, and transportation systems. Thus, with all the benefits which the humanity gains through the development of modern technologies, people also encounter a constant threat to their privacy and may become victims of numerous financial abuses, such as fraud and embezzlement, for which the Internet and computer technologies have become the most powerful tools. The global economy suffers as well. Specialists say that “online fraud is costing the global economy "many times more" than initial estimates of losses of $100bn (£62bn) a year” (McDonald, 2013). In addition to simply stealing money from banks, Internet criminal hackers may retrieve information for online espionage and sabotage projects.
The terms that name the abovementioned types of crimes vary – Internet crime, cybercrime, information crime, network crime, and electronic theft. All these names, though, identify either the Internet or computer as a means through which the crime is committed. Computers simplify the task while the Internet provides the resources – access to necessary information, to the victim’s bank accounts, etc. Besides, computers and the Internet play a key role in insider trading since they can assist in hiding illegal profits and market positions, facilitate money transfer to off-shore bank accounts, park stocks, and conceal stock ownership.
An interesting example of cybercrime could be the activity of the Russian Business Network, or the RBS. The company focuses on computer extortion, denial of service, identity theft, phishing, and child pornography. Experts from Team Cymru, a research group specializing in the Internet crime, say that the RBS is linked to around 60% of all cybercrime (Warren, 2007). The company was set up by university IT graduates in 2006 and at first the company’s activity was quite legitimate. However, as soon as the founders discovered that it was much more profitable to conduct illegal operations, they started to sell their services to various criminal organizations. Thus, the company is now a safe haven for cybercriminals’ intellectual property, such as spyware, trojans and botnet command and control systems. Besides, the company can also assist in laundering money. What is even more interesting about this company is that one of its founders is a nephew of one influential Russian politician who provides the company with powerful protection and support. Without such a link, the RBS might have failed to succeed in the criminal world. With time, of course, the company’s illegitimate operations were disclosed. However, it is much easier to hide in the Internet, especially for cyber hackers. So, the RBS disappeared from the web. But most experts say that the RBS has been trying to relocate their services in other countries. In addition, it is believed that the RBS has been diversifying their activities to complicate the task of finding them. So, the example of the RBS shows how easily it is to do business, both legal and illegal, through the Internet, and how easy it is for cyber criminals to hide in the Internet changing their Internet identity.
When covering the issue of Internet crime, it is worth paying special attention to financial frauds and embezzlements since they are most common and, mostly, better publicized in mass media. It is easy to explain why financial frauds are most popular with criminals. Firstly, it is because financial gain has always been the principal goal of the criminal world. And, secondly, it is because financial transactions have been greatly simplified in recent years due to the use of electronic systems and the Internet. Researchers say that at least 80 percent of present-day financial transactions in the USA are conducted electronically (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 191). These forms of transferring finances facilitate money laundering as well as other forms of financial crime. Many people in power tend to create off-shore accounts and, in such a way, avoid paying taxes. Thus, Nicholas Shaxson in his article dedicated to tax avoidance reveals that such world-famous and quite trustworthy Internet companies as Google and Amazon as well as the tech giant Apple and many other successful businesses, e.g. Microsoft, Skype, Vodafone, Pepsi, Starbucks, and Walt Disney, have been successfully evading paying taxes thanks to setting their off-shore subsidiaries and creating off-shore accounts (Shaxson, 2015). So, in comparison to the abovementioned RBS which specialized in illegitimate business, these companies do not betray their professionalism by getting involved in criminal activities, but for the sake of additional gains they also try to use all financial opportunities the globalization provides and the Internet undoubtedly simplifies.
Fortunately, however, computers and the Internet can be helpful not only for frauds but can also be used as means of detecting them and finding evidence to prove their guilt. Prosecutors have learned to use computer technologies for proving wrongdoing. Electronic data allow following the crime back to its source. For instance, it is possible to gather such evidence against a criminal as the dates of illegal trades made, the location of computers through which transactions were conducted, mobile-phone records, credit-card receipts, and others. Computers keep trails of data and prosecutors successfully use them.
So, it is evident that our highly globalized and computerized world opens a sea of opportunities both for criminals and for those who prosecute them. As in the old times, the chances are equal. So, let us hope that the good will triumph.
References
Friedrichs, D.O. (2010). Trusted criminals: White collar crime in contemporary society. (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
McDonald, H. (2013, October 30). Online fraud costs global economy ‘many times more than $100bn’. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/30/online-fraud-costs-more-than-100-billion-dollars
Shaxson, N. (2015, June 15). Follow the money: Inside the world’s tax havens. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/19/tax-havens-money-cayman-islands-jersey-offshore-accounts
Warren, P. (2007, November 15). Hunt for Russia’s web criminals. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/nov/15/news.crime
