How can computers be involved in crimes

In these cases, offenders obtain cellular billing identification codes by using scanning devices, which are small parabolic curve-shaped antennae connected to portable computers. When activated, these scanners capture and store account numbers transmitted by cellular phones. The offenders operate near highways, because motorists frequently make calls from their cars.

Once they capture the computerized billing codes, they program these codes into other cellular phones simply by hooking up the phone to a personal computer. Then, using software originally developed by programmers in London, they reprogram the signal chip in the cellular phone.

The use of this software, which is easy to copy and to use, is spreading across the United States and Canada, sometimes being shared through underground computer bulletin board services BBS. In this category of computer crime, the computer is not essential for the crime to occur, but it is related to the criminal act.

This means that the crime could occur without the technology; however, computerization helps the crime to occur faster, permits processing of greater amounts of information, and makes the crime more difficult to identify and trace.

Such crimes include money laundering and unlawful banking transactions, BBSs supporting unlawful activity, organized crime records or books, and bookmaking. In one case, a suspect committed murder by changing a patient's medication information and dosage in a hospital computer.

Cases involving drug raids, money laundering seizures, and other arrests also have produced computers and electronic storage media containing incriminating information. Many times, the criminals encrypt the data or design the files to erase themselves if not properly accessed. In some instances, criminals even destroy the storage media, such as disks, to eliminate evidence of their illegal activities.

All of these situations require unique data recovery techniques in order to gain access to the evi- dence. And, in every case, the crimes could occur without the computers; the systems merely facilitate the offenses. Another illustration of how criminals use technology to further their illegal activities involves child pornography. Historically, consumers of child pornography have trafficked photographs and related information through newsletters and tightly controlled exchange networks.

Now, with the advancement of computer technology, child pornographers exchange this information through BBSs. Recently, U. These criminals used the computer to facilitate the distribution of pornographic material and to increase the efficiency of criminal activity already occurring via other methods. The simple presence of computers, and notably the widespread growth of microcomputers, generates new versions of fairly traditional crimes. In these cases, technological growth essentially creates new crime targets.

One offense in this category occurs with relative frequency--the violation of copyright restrictions of commercial software. Initially, this offense may not seem like a serious crime; yet, the potential loss to businesses can be quite staggering. Thus, one copyright violation is the economic equivalent of eight strong-arm robberies. However, because the emotional trauma experienced in a piracy is almost nonexistent, many people do not view this as a serious crime.

Evidence exists that software also is being written and sold explicitly to help hackers break into computers. In another area, successful computer programs--notably word processing, spreadsheets, and databases-- are being duplicated, packaged, and sold illegally on a large scale, just as audio and video tapes are pirated.

Similarly, counterfeit computers and peripherals items such as modems and hard disks are being manufactured and sold as originals in much the same manner as imitation Rolex watches and Gucci shoes. Offenses vary by both the criminal act and the jurisdiction.

Crimes Involving Computers Types of Computer Crimes Harassment Harassment occurs when a person engages in any course of conduct with the intent to harass, torment or threaten another person after having been forbidden to do so by any Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, Constable, Police Officer or Justice of the Peace or by a court in a protective order.

A increasingly common fraud among computer criminals involves sending a victim a large cashier's check with a request that the victim deposit the check into their account and then wire the money overseas. Many of these scams originate from Africa and Eastern Europe where U.

Criminal Invasion of Computer Privacy A person is guilty of criminal invasion of computer privacy if the person intentionally accesses any computer resource knowing that the person is not authorized to do so. Soliciting a Child by a Computer to Commit a Prohibited Act A person is guilty of soliciting a child by a computer to commit a prohibited act if: The actor uses a computer to solicit, entice, persuade, or compel another person to meet with the actor and the actor is at least 16 years of age and knows or believes the child is less than 14 years of age, and the actor has the intent to engage in any one of the following prohibited acts with the child: a sexual act; sexual contact; or sexual exploitation of a minor.

Criminal Threatening A person is guilty of Criminal Threatening if he intentionally or knowingly places another person in fear of imminent bodily injury. Computer Crime Prevention. These types of people, sometimes called black hat hackers, like to create chaos, wreak havoc on other people and companies. Another reason computer crimes are sometimes committed is because people are bored.

They want something to do and don't care if they commit a crime. Below is a list of the different types of computer crimes today. Names and addresses of illegal drug purchasers, pornographic files, and stolen information from corporations are just a few examples of the many types of information stored in computers that involve criminal activities. Even if an offender has deleted his illegal computer files, a trained law enforcement computer expert can usually still obtain the deleted information.

The third general way a computer is used in cyber crime is as a tool used to plan or commit an offense. Most any kind of unlawful act can be planned by way of email. Internet criminal activities include fraud, online child pornography, sale of prescription drugs and controlled substances, sale of firearms, gambling, securities stocks and bonds fraud, and stealing or copying software and intellectual property.

Page-jacking is another cyber crime that came into common use in the late s and early twenty-first century. Page-jacking involves using the same key words or Web site descriptions of a legitimate site on a fake site. Search engines like Yahoo or Dogpile use these words to categorize and display sites on a specific topic requested by online users. When users type key words into a search engine, the legitimate site appears on a list along with the bogus site.