More in News Last modified: March 14, 2009

Danger ! Abused by Criminal

by Radikal Zen on March 14th, 2009

Advertisment

I thing you need this news caused, its very dangerous trick to fooling you guys. I warned you guys, read the news carefully.
The Internet has enhanced our everyday lives with improvements in communication and commerce, but there is a dark underbelly to the World Wide Web.

Hans Miller, a computer forensic specialist with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, delivered that message Wednesday to the Swansboro Chamber of Commerce.

The Internet – a tool barely used by most people just a decade ago – is now commonly abused by criminals seeking to spread child pornography, steal identities and wreak havoc.

Cyberstalking of children, identify theft, financial fraud, computer hacking, computer viruses and theft of proprietary business information have become prominent crimes in the last few years. And while the crimes are new, criminals still try to cover their tracks. But as more and more cybercriminals are finding out, hitting the delete button doesn’t necessarily do that.

Chamber member Brandi Zenoni, manager of Computer Solutions in Swansboro, said she can attest to the fact that most material “deleted” from a computer is still there – if you know where to look.

She said her business can find material on computers that people thought was gone. Spouses and employers often bring computers into her shop wanting to know what secrets they held.

She said she was glad to see Miller presenting information about computer crimes to the chamber.

“It scares me what can happen to kids,” she said.

Miller specializes in finding “deleted” material in the hard drives of computers. “Deleted” material found on computers can include child porn, which is illegal for anyone to possess for any reason except for certain law enforcement officers.

Sometimes high school-aged girls will take nude pictures of themselves and e-mail them to others, Miller said. “When they do this they become the victim and the perpetrator.”

Miller said he once arrested a preacher with child pornography who claimed it was research material for an upcoming sermon.

“Perverts have their own Internet networks to share child pornography and validate themselves to each other,” Miller said.

But dangers run much deeper than pedophiles sharing pictures.

Internet chat rooms are to 21st century child predators what parks and playgrounds were to those in the 1970s and 1980s, Miller said.

He said he has used his faux-12-year-old girl profile in a chat room and built a criminal case against a child predator in less that an hour.

Miller said parents have to guard against sex predators on the Web by knowing what their children are doing online. Being involved is the best way to ward off the bad guys.

Switching focus to the commercial end of computer crimes, Miller said that chamber members and the public on a whole should educate themselves as to the many scams used to steal money from both naive and greedy people.

Miller said a newer version of the ever-unpopular Nigerian scam – in which a person claiming to be from Nigeria sends out an e-mail that they will share millions of dollars with the recipient if that person sends a small amount of money to Nigeria first – now has the e-mail sender claiming to be a Marine Corps captain.

E-mails telling people they have won a lottery in Spain and will receive their winnings after paying a small amount in taxes is just another form of the same scam, Miller said.

Authorities say users can prevent computer-assisted crimes by following a few tips:

Do not reply to e-mails that request personal information, such as Social Security number or date of birth.

Check credit reports at least once a year to make sure someone isn’t using your credit card number and that no one has opened a credit account in your name.