Many of the schemes to defraud that have been conducted exclusively by telemarketing are now being conducted partly or exclusively by the Internet. Consumers who have Internet access now regularly receive "spammed" E-mails; that is, unsolicited E-mails that purport to offer business or investment opportunities or opportunities to purchase computer-related or other goods or services. Much of the "spamming" invites consumers to telephone a particular telephone number, to visit a particular Webpage or to mail funds to a particular address.
If you use the Internet with any frequency, you'll soon see that people and things online tend to move, as the saying goes, on "Internet time." For most people, that phrase simply means that things seem to happen more quickly on the Internet (business decisions, information-searching, personal interactions, to name a few) and to happen before, during or after ordinary "bricks and mortar" business hours.
What Is Internet Fraud?
The term "Internet fraud" refers generally to any type of fraud scheme that uses one or more components of the Internet (such as chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or Web sites) to present fraudulent solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or to other connected with the scheme.
Unfortunately, people who engage in fraud often operate in "Internet time" as well. They seek to take advantage of the Internet's unique capabilities (for example, by sending e-mail messages worldwide in seconds or posting Web site information that is readily accessible from anywhere in the world) to carry out various types of fraudulent schemes more quickly than was possible with many fraud schemes in the past.
In general, the same types of fraud schemes that have victimized consumers and investors for many years before the creation of the Internet are now appearing online (sometimes with particular refinements that are unique to Internet technology). With the explosive growth of the Internet and e-commerce in particular, online criminals try to present fraudulent schemes in ways that look as much as possible, like the goods and services that the vast majority of legitimate e-commerce merchants offer. In the process they not only cause harm to consumers and investors but also undermine consumer confidence in legitimate e-commerce and the Internet.
What are the major types of Internet Fraud?
Tips on Specific Internet Fraud Schemes
Resources
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