When I was younger I lived in a lot of cities and some really nasty neighborhoods. Some simple rules I learned were to leave my glove box open at night and not to carry large bills (if I was fortunate to have any) in my wallet. Due to the shabby neighborhoods I lived and played, I learned to be street savvy and pay attention to my surroundings.
Though the concentration of pickpockets and petty criminals may be less in certain cities and neighborhoods, there are areas where crime is nearly nonexistent. Some towns I’ve lived in since my youth have had no crime. Unfortunately, escaping computer crimes is nearly impossible and is independent of neighborhood, brand of computer, or internet service provider.
Cyber crimes, by definition, are crimes which take place on a computer and over a computer network. Years ago it was rare to hear stories of people’s identities being taken and money being infiltrated. I now have customers coming in at least once a week telling stories of how they were swindled out of money, had their identities stolen, or scammed for information.
Computer crimes come in all different shapes and sizes and aren’t limited to money or identity; they can include offensive content, harassment, spam email and viruses. Easily, the most common cyber crime I’ve noticed is hijacking a computer and holding it ransom. Most of the time the user’s options are either to pay (which is not advised) or manually remove the threat.
In my opinion the most offensive is a story I heard this weekend. A customer called me in a panic and told me her ex-husband published all of the woman’s personal information online. Her specific question was how to remove the information and ultimately reverse the damages. I advised her to simply contact her financial institutions and change her passwords. Unfortunately, once information is leaked online it’s nearly impossible to take down; however, I also suggested she contact the website administrators where the information was uploaded.
Many thousands of people could have looked at the information online prior to her finding out it was available. Who knows how many people accessed her Facebook account and online banking before she changed her passwords? Her frustration was obviously with her estranged lover; but, she was mortified that thousands of faceless people had access to her information without her knowledge.
Another cyber crime which is becoming less prevalent as people become more aware uses e-mail to scam people out of thousands of dollars. The promise is that people will receive money on investment. Typically, the original e-mail promises a hefty return on investments or sale of an item. Claiming the payout simply requires sending an item or money to an address in Africa or another country and in turn receiving a larger check. This type of activity is the epitome of crimes that initiate using the Internet and computers.
Most notorious was a crime that surfaced about six months ago. The FBI stopped a group of networking geniuses who rerouted a massive number of computers through specialized servers. Those involved utilized information from the traffic to gather credit card and social security numbers. Moreover, the criminals had full control where the victims could surf and how they could use their computers.
There’s not a whole lot we can do to prevent our personal information from leaking. Home based computers are the most vulnerable to losing information and receiving suspicious files. Preventing yourself from getting bamboozled requires more than just the wave of a magic wand and special software, it requires common sense to analyze everything and decide whether they are threats or legitimate offers or requests.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him directly at (978) 919-8059) or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.