Introduction
Cybercrime is a crime that is extremely common and it occurs more frequently now that technology is much more advanced and easier to tweak. This means anyone can harass, blackmail, steal from, and hack another individual, even if they are all the way across the world. Cybercrime usually results in many arrests, injuries, and even deaths when things are taken too far. Cybercrime is also rampant because millennials are becoming way too comfortable with sharing too much information on their social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. The need to brag about their belongings is the reason why a lot of teenagers become victims of cybercrimes.
There are many types of scams that are associated with cybercrimes. There are phisher scams which is when people receive emails from a financial institution and they ask you to click a link which should direct you to a website and submit your information. A lot of people fall for these types of scams because whoever is sending the email uses a lot of flashy images and similar logos which make the individual believe that it's real. Another is a Nigerian scam. Nigerian scams are emails that you receive which tells you that there's money waiting for you in an unknown bank account. Individuals may also receive lottery scams which will tell you that you have won a lot of money from a foreign place even though you've never even bought a ticket. The most common and worst scam is identity theft. Not only is identity theft a very life-threatening crime but it's also extremely costly because it involves the theft of your information which leads to the thief making purchases under the owners name (Christensen. 2016). Recently, DJ Khaled, a very well known DJ in the Hip Hop community, accidentally posted his credit card on a social media site called Snapchat and he was robbed of $80,000 very quickly (Williams, 2016). Because most of the things that we have to order are online, such as college textbooks and utensils and even online shopping, most shopping websites require a credit or debit card to make a purchase. Unfortunately, not every website is secure and most people do not do their research on the websites they are purchasing their products from, which gives them another way to become victims to a crime that they didn’t intend on being a victim of. This also happens at grocery stores and restaurants. It is common to give your card to your waiter and they’ll walk away with your card to make the transaction but sometimes, the waiter that you’ve trusted with your information can actually steal it. For example, a waitress will scan your credit card in the register, and then scan it again on another device to store your information (Herron, n.d). An incident like this happened in Pennsylvania where a woman was arrested for swiping custom cards on a card reader while she was working at a drive-thru. Unfortunately, she was able to steal $800 worth of credit card information (DiGangi, 2015). Thankfully, banks do freeze bank accounts once they realize a number of purchases being made in unfamiliar places or if it’s unauthorized. Another crime that is kind of new is music piracy. Music piracy is when an individual illegally downloads music online. This is something that is very controversial because not many people actually buy albums anymore. While pirating music is illegal, it's definitely still being done by many and there are websites to convert music into different formats for illegal downloading and it’s hard to regulate how many people will download music illegal unless all the converting websites are shut down. Music piracy is also dangerous for the music industry because they lose billions of dollars each year. With easier access to the internet and many ways to “cheat” the system, it’s actually very easy to become a cybercriminal, even if it may be unintentional.
Profiling of a Cyber Criminal
Many people believe that cyber criminals don't have a specific look or qualities because they believe that it considered discriminatory. However, scientists have been trying to look into whether cybercriminals do have a specific look or not. Usually, a hacker is known as someone who is intelligent, a loner, most likely a teenager or male adult who is very well with computers but has anti-social tendencies. You will also find that other hackers dress up in suits and they most likely steal their employers’ information (Bednarz, 2004). Cyber criminals have high adrenalines, need to control, and always have a motive. Their motive may be to gain money, strong emotions and beliefs, sexual, or they may just be bored (Shinder, 2010). If a cybercriminal wants money, they are probably going to commit an identity theft or hack crime. They can steal someone's information and make expensive purchases from various places or hack into the computers of financial institutions. Money is definitely the motive, especially for the younger crowd and anyone else who is in an unfortunate financial situation. Emotion may be a motive because the cyber criminal may want to seek revenge. Scorned cybercriminals will stalk, make threats, and harass towards the individual they're trying to target; whether it's a past lover, interest, employee, or employer. If sex is a motive, the cybercriminal is more likely to be a rapist and pedophile. They will prey on innocent women (or men) and partake in unnecessary harassment (Shinder, 2010). Basically, anything can be a motive for a cybercriminal and cybercriminals do not necessarily have a certain look but they have great skills, in reference to computers and different technologies.
Combating Cybercrime
There are many things that the government is doing to fight cybercrimes. The Secret Services is involved with the Electronic Crimes Task Forces which is a team that identifies and locates cyber criminals internationally (2016). So, they aren't only trying to fight cybercrimes in America, but all over the country because we aren't the only victims. In 2011, President Obama issued a Cybersecurity Legislative Proposal which requires that Congress take immediate action to grant private sectors and the government access to necessary tools to combat cyber crimes in the home and overseas (The White House, 2015). In order for law enforcement to effectively combat cybercrime, they must be up-to-date with the latest forms of technology; in other words, they must be tech savvy. The police don't have access to a good amount of resources to catch the cyber criminals who've mastered the art of cybercrime thanks to the advancement of computers and the internet (Wolf, 2009). Also, it is very necessary and important to figure out whether the act that the cyber criminal committed is actually illegal (Followill, 2016).
Penalties
Cybercrimes are crimes that need to be handled very seriously and effectively because it ruins lives and causes a lot of damage to individuals and businesses, as well as the criminal themselves. For computer crimes, the cyber criminal can face up to 20 years in prison or a fine of up to $15,000, or both (Reinhart, 2012). Computer crimes do includes the removing, disabling, or halting data, programs, or software; participating in an illegal transfer of electronic funds, or causing physical injury to one's property (Reinhart, 2012). Cyber stalking is usually considered a misdemeanor offense. However, cyber stalking charges can go from a misdemeanor to a felony depending on other factors. At times, it is tough to charge someone with cyber stalking because we have to take into consideration free speech and intention (2016). People who download music illegal may face up to 10 years in prison (Lee, 2015). Those individuals who steal identities online may face a maximum of 15 years in prison including fines (2010). Identity theft goes all the way back to the 19th century, and has always been considered a crime.
Conclusion
Overall, because technology is extremely advanced, we can easily become victims of cybercrime. Most times, some cybercrimes aren't even intentional. For example, people argue online all the time, especially on forums; and that is not considered a crime, it's most likely considered freedom of speech or freedom of expression. We can't expect for cybercrime to be completely demolished because it is something that is hard to regulate because you can't exactly regulate everything on the world wide web, it's nearly impossible. Instead, people should take the proper precautions to avoid being victims to cybercrimes and if more light was shed on the issue, we’d know and understand how to prevent it from happening.
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