Computer Crime

With outstanding technology, often come drawbacks. Take the cellular telephone for example. Now they're saying that excessive use of your mobile phone can cause cancer. This notion alone makes me refrain from using my cell phone much. Then there are the issues with computers and the Internet. No, I'm not telling you that your WIFI connection causes brain tumors or your laptop will cause a cyst in your abdomen. I have no idea about those things. I'm referring to computer crime. You know, all the negative activity that takes place over the Internet. At this point it seems endless.

People all over the world become the victims of identity theft. Apparently conniving little hackers with little ambition for a career would rather steal someone's identity in order to acquire things free of charge. But not free for the victim of course. Nope; they are the ones that pay and have their credit ruined. A minor bout with identity fraud actually happened to my wife a few years back. Someone had stolen her identity and gained access to her bank account. They proceeded in purchasing a cell phone plan. Fortunately for us, the bank took care of the charge and investigated further. They thought my wife's account information was retrieved via the Internet, hence making this a computer crime. Be very careful with your bank access on the web, and guard all passwords with your life.

Identity theft is not the more serious of computer crime issues. Certainly the major one at-hand concerns sex offenders. Every day sick individuals are using the web to pinpoint minors. They acquire their information on a chat forum, and/or pose as another minor to converse with them and find things out. A major medium where this computer crime often begins is on websites like Myspace.com. Although these free chat sites were designed with good intentions, sex offenders and criminals naturally took total advantage of them. In order to avoid computer crime and keep your children from conversing with strangers, be vigilant when surfing the web and monitor your kids when they use the Internet. Also, never be afraid to talk to them about these issues and how to remain safe.