Top Five Computer Related Crimes By: Katie Nascenti & Christopher Bernaudo

Computer Fraud What is Computer Fraud? How does it happen? Computer fraud happens when a victim is lied to and believes that he will receive money or something else of value. There are common types of this crime currently happening all over the United States. The most common way computer fraud is practiced is through scams that involve creating fake emails while pretending to be a bank or credit company that ask for personal information.

Computer Spying Lately, people and industries have been stealing individuals information by spying on the person through technology. This spying is done for personal gain of the spy who will use the information for bribery, blackmail or personal advantage. The most common reason computer spying occurs is to hack information and purchase stocks. After the stock is brought, the spy will transfer it to his own personal account and receive the money. Another way computer spying occurs is by using software to gain passwords, and obtain company and business secrets.

Virus Transmitters A computer virus transmitter is someone who creates a virus to infect computers from their every day functioning, run annoying programs, and gain access to the victim’s personal computer information. Without knowledge, people download these programs through websites, emails and common pop-up windows.

Piracy One of the most common computer crimes is software piracy. Copying software that is going to be distributed is considered an illegal act. Program that are not protected by anti-piracy software are very easy to copy. It can never be assumed that someone cannot find away around these type of protections. Therefore computer software programmers are constantly trying to improve anti-piracy programs.

Child Pornography The distribution of child pornography through the internet is a crime. If you are knowingly selling, sharing or buying child porn you are involved in a serious illegal crime. In recent years, the internet has also been used for promoting child prostitution. These pedophiles have used every possible way to get children to chat with them and then lure them into illegal sexual encounters. Due to the anonymous nature of the internet it is hard to prosecute these crimes.