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Crime Prevention Tips

Internet Fraud

The Internet places a vast amount of information and exciting experiences at your command. However, as the legitimate use of the Internet increases throughout our nation and the world, the wrongful use of the Internet to commit crime and victimize people also increases.

Here is a list of the most commonly perpetuated crimes on the Internet:

Pyramid Schemes
Pyramid schemes provide financial incentives to recruit new distributors. They are generally prohibited because it is a mathematical certainty that the pyramids will collapse when no new distributors can be recruited. Beware of the get rich quick schemes. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

On-Line Auctions
On-line auctions are popular to many people who use the Internet. Generally, on-line auctions are person-to-person sales where individuals bid for various types of merchandise. The highest bidder then pays in advance of receiving the merchandise. A growing problem is sellers failing to deliver merchandise that consumers have purchased.

Teaser Pages
The Internet is rife with fraud and deception. Some web pages "tease" individuals with promises of easy money for little or nothing. These scams include phone scholarships, travel programs, weight loss programs and others.

The Risk Free Scam
Many times this scam solicits its victims with exotic-sounding investments such as wireless cable projects, prime bank securities or fictitious business ventures overseas. Promoters misrepresent risk to "investors" by comparing their offer to something safe, such as bank security deposits. Many times the investment offer never really exists.

The Pump and Dumb
This is a stock scam. Messages are posted on the Internet urging readers to buy stock quickly that are poised for rapid growth. The message writer often claims to have inside information about an impending development. The reality is that the writer stands to gain by selling or buying stock shares after the price goes up and down. This ploy is normally used with unregistered, little known, thinly traded stocks.

The Hijack
The hijack is a relatively new form of fraud unique to the Internet. Consumers are prompted to download a purported "viewer program" to see computer images for free. Once downloaded, the consumer's computer is "hijacked" by the viewer program, which turns off the consumer's modem speakers, disconnects the computer from the local Internet provider, dials an international number and connects the consumer to a remote site. The expensive international costs are charged to the consumer's telephone bill until the telephone is turned off.