INTERNET CRIME

Internet Crime

Internet Crime

Internet crime is crime that occurs when computers or computer networks are involved as tools, locations, or targets of crime. This means that cybercrime may include a wide variety of traditional types of crime, such as theft or even extortion, but that these may take on novel forms because of the opportunities provided by the cyber environment.

Internet crime includes a wide range of illegal behaviors in which various facets of the Internet play an integral role in the transmission of intentionally deceptive and/or false representations for personal or organizational gain. Acts of Internet crime typically involve the transfer of currency, goods and services, or personal and intellectual property across this interconnected set of computers via applications, including the World Wide Web, email, chat rooms, or software (e.g., online gaming). Rather than being perpetrated face-to-face, Internet crime is usually perpetrated through lines of network communication that serve to spatially separate the offender from the victim. Since the use of computers or computer networks is an important locus of the illegal act, Internet crime is considered a special subcategory of cybercrime. (Holtfreter, 2005)

Scope of Internet crime

Since computers and networks now pervade almost every corner of our lives, from making a telephone call to driving on the freeway, the crimes that occur in the cyber environment are many. Some of these crimes may or may not be crimes, depending on the jurisdiction, especially as the Internet transcends international borders. Gambling, for example, or even trading in child pornography, may not be crimes in some countries. Some of these crimes are old crimes with a new face. For example, a thief may purchase an item from an online store using a false identity or credit card; a robber may force a victim to divulge his PIN number at an ATM; an ...