Actual cases of computer crime

[1] Credit card and employment-related frauds are among the top crimes in California. Identity theft is not only done by hackers like we all assume. The Department of Consumer Affairs has been investigating a former employee that has been sending social security numbers on State payroll to a personal email account. That former employee's husband is part of the Mexican Mafia. Identity theft is popular among the gangs such as the Armenian Power gang, Long Beach chapter of the Crips, and the prison-based Mexican Mafia. Computers, guns and paperwork for fabricating identities were found in several property searches in March 2006. The ring leaders have been found guilty and some men could face up to 90 charges.

[2] The Department of Justice has charged eleven people with credit card fraud. Nine major U.S. retailers were hacked into and the losses include sales and thefts accounting for more than 40 million debit and credit card numbers. The charges faced consist of computer intrusion, conspiracy, identity theft and fraud. There was a diverse nationality amongst the computer criminals which were Estonian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Chinese.

[3] In New Zealand, an eighteen year old boy was interrogated after his house was raided. During the operation, police confiscated various computers. Police officers suspected that the boy was the ringleader of an international cyber crime network. His network had access to 1.3 million computers and taken millions from bank accounts. The hackers from the cyber crime network used computers to crash industry computers, steal credit card information and manipulate stock trades. In the end, the boy was released with no charges.

[4] In Indiana, ten FBI investigators will target computer criminals such as identity thieves and hackers. These internet criminals typically live outside of the United States. They victimize Indiana banks, residents and businesses. Cyber crime is a growing worry in the United States. The task force will crack cases of criminals who take advantages of children, steal trade secrets and Internet fraud. An attorney general’s office has a unit against identity theft. They have investigated one hundred and forty cases and reacquired about ninety-eight thousand dollars.

[5] Samantha Leatiota is found using the computer to commit fraud. Her job was to provide payroll processing services. Her clients include companies both inside and outside of California. One of her clients was Green Waste, San Jose Company. She had adjusted Green Waste payroll records and overpaid her husband, an employee at Green Waste. She was charged with fraud in connection with a protected computer.

[6] In Boston, Massachusetts, a male juvenile computer hacker pleads guilty to the U.S District Court. He is relatively well-known in the hacker community. The male hacker is only sixteen years old. He pleads guilty to interstate threats, computer intrusion, and wire fraud, stemming from hacking, “botnet” and swatting activities. The government had successfully proven that he committed crimes from 2005 to 2008. He will be serving time for eleven months in a juvenile detention facility.

[7] A twenty-four year old, Jonathon Vance, from Alabama has been indicted for online extortion. He used various online screen names to get close to his minor female victims. He would pose as a long lost friend, relative or acquaintances and gain their trust. The girls would learn his identity after a series of personal information. After he knows the females’ secrets and personal information, he would demand sign-on usernames and passwords to facebook.com or myspace.com and/or tell to go onto the webcam and undress. If the victims did not do as told, he would threaten them that he would expose all their secrets and personal information such as past sexual experiences and sexual fantasies. Some of the victims obeyed to his threats and some did not. A set trial date is still not fixed. If Jonathon is found guilty, he could face up to thirty-five years in prison.

[8] Michael Wasa a senior at Taravella High School in Coral Springs has hacked into the school district’s computer systems. He gained access to more than thirty-eight thousand employees’ private records and social security numbers. The usage of the information is unknown. In his computer, police officers found folders containing his high school’s entire database and about making bombs. Michael had hacker programs, software, and student information that he used to alter credit card information. He is still under investigation and has not been charged.

[9] Michael Calce was only fifteen years old when he was arrested and pleads guilty to fifty-six charges. He was a known hacker under the name of Mafiaboy. He wrote a book where he reflected his crimes and the current security on the Internet. Michael’s crimes have caused losses ranging in millions of dollars to Yahoo, eBay, CNN, Dell and Amazon.com. His book tells why people should not follow his footsteps. The book also offers personal net safety tips.

[10] In the United States there has been a significant increase of cyber crime activities. Email scams have doubled in the last three years. Losses have totaled more than three billion dollars. Cyber criminals are learning and developing new ways to become more convincing when they try to take money and identities. The criminals depend of Internet advertising and false websites. Those internet activities may persuade or ask for personal information or downloading malign programs onto their computers.

[11] This crime happened to be local. A woman in San Jose was an employee of a company that processed payroll papers for other companies. It just so happens that her company processed the payroll checks for the company that her husband worked for. She used her position and stealing some passwords to alter her husbands paychecks so he made more money.

[12] I found another case that was located in Morgan Hill, and took place within the company Philips. The senior product manager at the company helped design the architecture and product specifications for Philip's next generation of Luxeon Robel surface mountable power LEDs. He ended up resigning from his job, and planned to use or sell this information to another company.

[13] A man in Sacramento used the internet to contact the FBI in Washington DC. He threatened to kill members of the band Korn, and he also threatened the lives of law enforcement officers and federal agents.

[14] Trenton, New Jersey. U.S. authorities have arrested four men they say used a variety of scams to trick banks into releasing home equity funds.The four, who allegedly convinced U.S. banks to wire more than $2.5 million to banks in Canada, China, Japan and other countries, were connected to three others who pleaded guilty in federal court in eastern Virginia to charges in a $10 million bank fraud