Catfish: Appraising The Identification Of Virtual Crimes

Back before the internet, everyone knew what a con man looked like. He was depicted as a man with a covered face, a pinstripe suit, and would speak only the sweetest lines to those he planned on scamming. Here in 2018, this is no longer the case. Being scammed is becoming more and more common, all thanks to the internet. Internet fraud includes any form of scam, impersonation, or any other sort of abstract virtual crime.Due to the ever-changing nature of the internet, scammers have had to adjust their own tricks and techniques to keep unsuspecting internet users on their toes.

From older tactics such as spam emails to newer concepts like catfishing, scammers are still finding ways to trick people and businesses alike. The fact that many

The hit TV show Catfish has shown users how investigating their virtual partners Instagram account or Facebook page can be crucial in the process of appraising the authenticity of a user from other platforms. When investigating a user off of an online dating platform, the hosts of the show may go to the suspicious love interests Instagram account. They look at details such as who the user follows, what they post, and even who follows the user. (Mchugh, 2015) Since it is much easier to decipher the realness of a social media account than an online dating profile, for many people this is the only step they have to take before deciding whether or not to continue their virtual

Institute regulatory control over the auction houses. 6. Encourage buyers to protect themselves. (Gavish, Tucci, 2008) One of the most harmful predators on the internet is a lack of knowledge by far. Many users are not aware of even the most basic tell-tale signs of an internet scam, and therefore cannot protect themselves properly. Jeremy Cucco claims “Education is almost always the single biggest defense against hacking and social engineering.” (Negrea, 2017) It used to be fairly easy to tell a fraudulent account from an authentic one; spelling mistakes and suspicious names or emails were standard and easy to decipher. Now, however, many scammers are taking as many steps as possible to make their accounts seem as authentic as the real ones. A new approach some colleges are taking to educate the public on protecting their information are simulated phishing attacks. They create emails identical to those of scammers and send them to both students and college faculty without any warning. The college then waits until everyone has had a chance to see the email and either respond or ignore it before sending out an announcement to inform everyone of what has happened. (Negrea,