T17 Group 2: Manraj, Nicole, John Grove, Misbah

Cpsc 203 Group Project: Internet Safety
''' Members: Misbah, Manraj, Nicole, John Grove'''

Introduction
A major issue that concerns us today is interaction over the internet. The internet has many methods in which people can interact, such as chat rooms, instant messaging and forums. Some advantages that have come from communication on the internet are people have found long lost friends, life partners, and some cool people that can help them in their everyday life. The problem with this is that one can never be certain to who they are chatting with, individuals can easily disguise themselves as someone they are not. This can have harmful consequences, for example children who use these methods of communication can be coaxed into doing things by someone who is pretending to be another child. This topic brings up all kinds of issues, like to what degree police should get involved, and how the government should deal with someone doing these inappropriate acts.

Technology Overview


Between August and November of 1988 IRC (internet relay chat) was born. The technology was first invented by Jarkko Oikarinen as he wrote the first IRC server. At this time there were no other servers providing any kind of chat programs and the technology remained in Finland. In November of 1988 relay chat spread across the internet. Then in 1995 the chat room technology was improved upon with the introduction of Java. Java developed a applet support and Java Chat was developed soon after. Yahoo soon became incorporated with the chat room technology and opened up a chat site of their own. In 1999 chat rooms took another huge step forward with the development of Active X Chat Technology. MSN utilized this Active X technology to create a chat site that is very popular. On October 18th HearMe Inc developed a program to allow voice communication in chat rooms.

Internet Fraud
A major disadvantage of communication over the internet today, is that it opens up a new world of possibilities for con artists.Identity theft is a common example in which someone takes a person’s personal information and uses it to gain access to their funds. Internet fraud refers to any type of fraud scheme that uses one or more online services to present false situations to a victim, in which they are coaxed into sending money to a third party.

A common type of internet fraud is using stolen credit numbers, buying products and having them shipped to areas of the world where the no legal action can be taken. With the large amount of people that have started doing this, companies have being wise and stopped responded to addresses located in these areas. To combat this con men have come up with a method in which they can use internet chatrooms and matchmaking sites to keep their scam alive.

In this, there are groups of people actively seeking single women over chat and matchmaking sites. These individuals promise to marry the lady and come live with them in the near future. Once the criminal has used their smooth talking, along with their powerful lies, they then use stolen credit cards to order goods to the house of the victim. They then say that it is urgent that these goods be sent back to them. Oblivious to what is taking place, the victim ships them back to them. The scammer now has the products they were looking for and the woman is stuck with massive shipping charges, and a broken heart.

Statistics
According to the Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre:

In 2004, 12,000 complaints for a loss of $19 million.

In 2005,12,500 complaints for a total loss of $8.6 million.

2006 8,000 cases losses were estimated at$16,283,000.

Identity Theft Protection


Identity theft entails all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal information in a manner involving fraud or deception (usually for economic gain). There are many ways individuals may protect themselves against identity fraud and these methods are as follows:

1. Be extremely mindful of who you share your personal information with. Try to avoid circulation of this data.

2. When asked for personal information be sure you know how it will be used, why it is needed, who will be sharing it, and how it will be safeguarded.

3. Carry the least possible personal papers. These documents include passports, Social Insurance Numbers, and birth certificates. These documents are extremely useful for identity thieves.

4. Never give a credit card number over the internet, to a voice mailbox, or over fax unless you are completely certain of the recipient.

5. Utilize security technologies such as digital signatures, data encryption, and other anonymizing services.

6. If identification or credit cards are lost or stolen be sure to notify creditors immediately.

7. Peruse your credit report yearly to ensure it is accurate (no unauthorized activity and no debts you did not incur). Also check your monthly credit card statements for inaccurate spending.

8. Request that all your accounts require passwords before changes can be made.

9. Be sure to use difficult passwords and change them regularly if possible. Also be sure to not have passwords in your wallet. Keep them in a safer place.

10. Be discreet with personal identification numbers.

11. Check your cardholder agreement to see if it offers protection from credit card fraud.

12. Be mindful of what you throw out. Burn or shred all unneeded personal data. Also insist that the businesses you deal with that have your personal information do the same.

13. Be sure to sign all credit and interact cards. Also keep a list of the ones that are active and are being used and destroy all others.

If you have had your credit card stolen, immediately report it to your bank or credit card company to inform them your card has been stolen or wrongfully obtained. After informing the bank, the local police must be contacted. The police will complete a police report and the victim should keep a copy of the report. This copy will probably be required by the bank or credit card company to validate the claim of identity theft. Upon completing these steps in Canada, the victim has to call PNCC(Phonebusters National Call Center). PNCC is the government body which investigates identity theft cases. If the fraud involved a credit card then Equifax or Trans Union Canada must be contacted as well. The punishment for identity theft in Canada is ten years in prison under section 403 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Internet Predators
There are a few things we know about children. First they are young in nature and still figuring out this world. Second, they are incredibly curious. Third, children are very naïve and think of themselves as invincible. These kids are becoming key users of internet chat sites and use them on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, predators use these chat rooms as weapons against children. These people disguise themselves as children who share similar interests and hobbies with the children they are chatting with. These people are ruthless, immoral, and are called predators.

Usually predators will go into a chat and begin to establish a relationship with their prey. They will build trust with the child and begin asking personal questions about their lives and often ask for photos of the child. Eventually, these predators will pursue a meeting with the child by offering money, a fun game, or a present.

http://www.onlinesafetysite.com/images/InternetPredator.jpg

The sad reality of this sick game is that young children are not strong, smart, or experienced enough to understand that there are horrible people and things in this world that do not have their best interests in mind. These predators use chat rooms to make victims of children, only to fulfill a sick and futile fantasy. This often ends in child abduction and molestation. As a society, we need to always be aware of our surroundings and in this day and age, we cannot afford to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

Finding Love/Friendship


The internet provides mass information at your fingertips, it also makes networking a thousand times easier. There are dozens of sites devoted to networking and making keeping in touch easier, one of the most widely used is FACEBOOK!!!

Conclusion
To Conclude online communication devices can be very helpful, however they can also be very dangerous if no precautions are taken. Be smart, use caution when giving out personal information and never give out enough information so someone can find you. You may not be talking to who you think your talking to, anyone can hide or change detail about themselves on the web!