Cybercrime advice | Internet Crime

The term ‘cybercrime’ covers a wide range of activities that are carried out against businesses and individuals using computers and the Internet.

The main activities that affect individuals are:

• Computer misuse (including hacking, spam email, Trojans, viruses, botnets etc.)
• Financial fraud (including scams, online theft, phishing etc.)
• Identity theft and identity fraud
• Offences against the person (including cyberbullying, hate crimes, child sexual abuse content)

General tips to help you avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime

• Treat all unsolicited emails (especially those from unknown senders) with caution and never click on links from such emails to visit unknown web sites - these could contain links to code that could affect your computer.
• Don’t open attachments in emails that you’re not expecting – they could contain a virus or code that would enable someone to control your computer.
• Don’t share files or programs with other users.
• Don’t use free software unless you know it’s reputable and safe.
• Install anti-virus software, keep it up-to-date and run regular security scans.
• Install the latest security updates, also known as patches.
• Install and learn how to use a personal firewall.
• Be careful not to share personal information such as address information, bank details, telephone numbers, date of birth etc. on social networking sites and other websites that do not use encryption to secure the information you publish.
• Do not use the same password across multiple websites. Although this makes it more difficult to manage your online accounts it is worth the effort, you can also use password management software and encryption to make this easier.

Further information on protecting yourself from specific types of cybercrime

We have information on how to protect yourself from Trojans, viruses, botnets and hoax emails.

You can also find information about phishing and how to protect yourself plus specific advice about identity theft.

For information on how to protect your computer visit:www.getsafeonline.org.uk

What to do if you become a victim of cybercime

There are a number of organisations who provide specialist information about cybercrime, including scams and online fraud:

Getsafeonline provides detailed advice on how to rectify common online security problems, and how to report cybercrime.

Action Fraud - if you have been a victim of online fraud you can report it to Action Fraud.  They also provide a number of support resources as well as tips to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime.

The safest thing is to ignore any invitation to click a link, but instead browse directly to the website you know belongs to the organisation in question. This may take a little more time, but is the safest method.

Once there you will quickly see whether the message in the email was genuine or not. Many email programs now include a feature which pops up a warning of fake addresses when you hover the mouse over a link in an email. If you see this warning, don’t click the link, just delete the email.

The latest version of web browsers like Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox can also check the address of a website against a database of known bad sites and warn you if you’re about to visit a fake one.

How to protect yourself from phishing

To protect yourself from phishing attacks, follow these simple rules:

• Never open emails from people you don’t know. Delete them and empty the bin.
• Never reply to phishing emails. No real financial institution will ever ask you for your credentials in an email.
• Check the web site address when you are buying something over the Internet - open a browser window and use a search engine to find the site. If the addresses don’t match, it's probable that the site you are about to visit is fake.
• Check your bank and credit card statements carefully and report any unfamiliar transactions.
• Use a personal firewall.
• Use anti-virus software and update it at least daily or each time your computer is switched on.
• Install software that looks for Trojans and deletes them.
• Only download software from reputable sources. Free games and screensavers might be hiding Trojan software.

Trojans take their name from the term 'Trojan Horse' and are a type of computer virus which can be installed on your computer without you realising. Trojans can be capable of installing a "keystroke logger", which captures all of the keystrokes entered into a computer keyboard. Some specifically seek to capture passwords entered at certain web sites, by capturing keystrokes or taking screen shots of sites you visit. This information is then sent to the fraudsters over the Internet.

Trojans are malicious programs which look innocent, fool you into accepting them, and then more or less take over your computer. You can go on using your PC or laptop while a criminal is also using it, remotely, for his illegal purposes. The criminals have also designed programs called “rootkits”, which hide the fact that your computer has been compromised, so your anti-virus software never spots the Trojan infection.

How do Trojans get on your computer?

So, how do Trojans get on to your computer in the first place? Many are sent via email attachment, masquerading as a legitimate piece of software. When you open the attachment, the Trojan silently installs itself on your computer. In most cases, there is no indication this has occurred, and you innocently play the game or enjoy the new screensaver before sending it on to the next victim in the chain. Instant messaging systems carry the same sorts of risks as email – files shared this way can just as easily carry a Trojan.

Typically the fraudsters send out emails at random to get people to click on a link from the email and visit a malicious website where vulnerabilities in the web browser are exploited to install the Trojan. The emails are normally related to Internet banking and try and dupe people into visiting clicking on the link to the malicious web site with a variety of excuses.

Even regular web browsing can pose a risk. Every day more and more websites are infected with malicious software without the site owner’s knowledge. Just visiting an infected site can result in your computer being infected in turn, and perhaps becoming part of a botnet.

Of course free software and even shareware software can also be infected. That exciting new game, screensaver or utility program can hide a Trojan program ready to infect your PC.

Social networking sites like Facebook are another rich opportunity for criminals, who dupe people into sending infected movies, pictures and web links to their friends.

Firewalls, up to date antivirus software and anti-spyware programmes all provide the best defence from Trojans so it is important you use these to protect your computer.

Further information

Find out more about Trojans, visit: www.banksafeonline.org.uk/trojans_explained.html

Read our guide on how to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime