Internet Scammers Research Articles

Fraud in a digital society in the context of social change

The article analyzes the problems of fraud in the modern digital society in the context of social changes caused by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current geopolitical situation. The authors study in detail the types of financial fraud in this area. They pay special attention to the types of digital fraud: telephone fraud and IP-telephony, SMS fraud, phishing, sniffering (message interception), skimming (theft of card data), which are associated with the emergence of cryptocurrencies. The article presents the data of the authors’ sociological research conducted by the method of an online questionnaire survey (n = 765). The study showed that only 44 % of respondents are sufficiently informed about the types of fraud to protect themselves from modern internet scammers. An analysis of data on certain types of digital fraud showed that 20 % of respondents lost money due to telephone or Internet fraud, 16 % of respondents personally encountered IP telephony, and 40 % have no idea about such a type of fraud as sniffering and existing anti-virus protection against it. The research also showed the vulnerability, first of all, of the male half of the population over 40 years of age in the field of internet fraud. Therefore, public authorities, together with the media, business and other actors of Russian society, need to strengthen the policy in the field of improving the level of financial and digital literacy of the population.

A Honeybee-Inspired Framework for a Smart City Free of Internet Scams.

Internet scams are fraudulent attempts aim to lure computer users to reveal their credentials or redirect their connections to spoofed webpages rather than the actual ones. Users' confidential information, such as usernames, passwords, and financial account numbers, is the main target of these fraudulent attempts. Internet scammers often use phishing attacks, which have no boundaries, since they could exceed hijacking conventional cyber ecosystems to hack intelligent systems, which emerged recently for the use within smart cities. This paper therefore develops a real-time framework inspired by the honeybee defense mechanism in nature for filtering phishing website attacks in smart cities. In particular, the proposed framework filters phishing websites through three main phases of investigation: PhishTank-Match (PM), Undesirable-Absent (UA), and Desirable-Present (DP) investigation phases. The PM phase is used at first in order to check whether the requested URL is listed in the blacklist of the PhishTank database. On the other hand, the UA phase is used for investigation and checking for the absence of undesirable symbols in uniform resource locators (URLs) of the requested website. Finally, the DP phase is used as another level of investigation in order to check for the presence of the requested URL in the desirable whitelist. The obtained results show that the proposed framework is deployable and capable of filtering various types of phishing website by maintaining a low rate of false alarms.

Malevolent Creativity? The Science of Evil Innovations: Interview With Gayle Dow, PhD

You might think of creativity as inherently good. But guess again! This Halloween season, guest speaker Dr. Gayle Dow unleashes the science of malevolent creativity. Treat yourself to a new understanding of the characteristics and behaviors of internet scammers, conniving workplace employees, terrorists, serial killers, and more.

Identity Expression—the Case of ‘Sakawa’ Boys in Ghana

Internet fraud remains a problem in Ghana and thus attracts the attention of teachers, researchers, civil society organisations, the state and policymakers. Existing studies on Internet fraud focused on the reasons, combat strategies, cyber spiritualism, the impact of Internet fraud on individuals and the country, and the inadequate legal frameworks for handling such cybercrimes. Despite efforts by the government and other interest groups in fighting the menace, the phenomenon continues to increase among youth in Ghana. Applying Paul Willis’ theory of ethnographic imagination, this study examined how Internet scammers—Sakawa boys—in the northern region of Ghana use their bodies and other cultural materials to express their identity and make meaning. The study reveals that Sakawa boys express their identities and make meaning using language—slang and jargon; conspicuous consumption of material goods; ostentatious lifestyle; techno-religiosity; and gender cyber-fraud collaboration. Thus, it offers a basal understanding of emic dimension of relationship between children and youth in cybercrime, unsuspected victims, and preventive measures. The study also gives theoretical contributions to research in understanding the broader socio-cultural milieu of children and youth in crimes and possible practical measures towards containment.

Decolonizing Science, Digitizing the Occult: Theory from the Virtual South

AbstractIn this article Newell uses two case studies to explore one of the central threads of Mbembe’s Abiola lecture, the idea that there is a relationship between the plasticity of digital technology and African cosmologies of the deuxième monde. One case concerns the viral YouTube video #sciencemustfall, in which students at the University of Cape Town criticize “Western” science and demand that African forms of knowledge such as witchcraft be incorporated into the meaning of science. The second case considers fieldwork among the brouteurs of Côte d’Ivoire, internet scammers who build intimate relationships on false premises using social media. They acquire shocking amounts of wealth in this way which they display on their own social media accounts. However, they are said to use occult means to seduce and persuade their virtual lovers, trapping their prey in the sticky allure of the world wide web. Newell uses both examples to highlight the overlaps between the transformational efficacies embedded in both occult ontologies and digital worldings, calling for the possibility of using African cosmologies of the second world to produce a ‘theory from the south’ of virtual sociality.

Internet Fraud as a Threat to Personal Information Security

The paper analyzes the statistics of implementing known information threats, considers new types of Internet fraud and develops recommendations for protecting against unauthorized actions of Internet scammers. Internet fraud has long gone beyond mailing and has become widespread. Fraudsters operate in almost all spheres of human activity, and with the advent of various means of communication their activities have acquired new trends. The most common methods of online fraud are the following: fake shops with Internet sales, phishing, fundraising for charity, dating sites, viral content. The paper shows that the considered methods of Internet fraud are connected not so much with the Internet as directly with the user. Internet users should not only be aware of possible types and schemes of fraud, but also take care of software protection methods such as antivirus and timely updating all applications, browsers and systems. Only being up to date, constantly learning and being interested in both new threats and methods of their protection users can protect themselves and their loved ones from losses.

Clickjacking: a study on popular websites in India

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to assess the precautionary measures adopted by the popular websites in India, and, thus, find out how vulnerable the Indian Web users are to this form of attack. Today almost all work is done through the Internet, including monetary transactions. This holds true even for developing countries like India, thus making secure browsing a necessity. However, an attack called “clickjacking” can help Internet scammers to carry out fraudulent tasks. Even though researchers had proposed different techniques to face this threat, it remains a question on how effectively they are deployed in practice. Design/methodology/approach – To carry out the study, top 100 Indian and global websites in India were identified and were divided into static and dynamic websites based on the level of interaction they offer to the users. These websites were checked to see whether they offer any basic protection against clickjacking and, if so, which defence technique is used. A comparison between Indian websites and global websites is done to see where India stands in terms of providing security. Findings – The results show that 86 per cent of Indian websites offer no protection against clickjacking, in contrast to 51 per cent of global websites. It is also observed that in the case of dynamic websites, only 18 per cent of Indian websites offer some form of protection, when compared to 63 per cent of global websites. This is quite alarming, as dynamic websites such as social networking and banking websites are the likely candidates for clickjacking, resulting in serious consequences such as identity and monetary theft. Originality/value – In this paper, vulnerability of Indian websites to clickjacking is presented, which was not addressed before. This will help in creating awareness among the Indian Web developers as well as the general public, so that precautionary measures can be adopted.

Towards a Categorization of Scambaiting Strategies against Online Advance Fee Fraud

Scambaiters are individuals in online information communities specializing in identifying, documenting and reporting actions of so-called ‘419 scammers'. A qualitative research approach was applied to two active scambaiting communities - 419eater.com and thescambaiter.com. Content analysis of several discussions and the examination of interviews from the web radio ‘Area 419: Scambaiting Radio' resulted in the seven categories of scambaiting techniques that are presented in this article. The aim is to both give a wider understanding of the scope of existing Internet scams as well as answering questions of why and how individuals or communities of scambaiters take action against Internet scammers. The analysis on various scambaiting practices is intended as a base for future discussions, for instance, whether some scambaiting methods should be implemented in media competence training.

Problematic Empowerment: West African Internet Scams as Strategic Misrepresentation

Internet scamming strategies associated with West Africa typically involve the creation and deployment of fictional narratives depicting political turmoil, corruption, violence, poverty, and personal tragedy set in a variety of African nations. This article examines Internet scammers' complicity in promoting these creatively dramatic, yet stereotyped, representations of Africa and Africans. Their approach exemplifies what de Certeau describes as a “tactic” where scammers manipulate the space of representations produced by hegemonic forces in the West to realize subversive ends. The attempts of Internet scammers highlight the difficulties of creating self-representations that are both authentic and persuasive. Marginalized communities face difficult compromises in their efforts to be heard by those they perceive as powerful. This remains the case, despite new mechanisms of communication, such as the Internet, that make connecting (in a purely mechanical sense) much easier and less expensive.