Online Auction Fraud Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Online Auction Fraud - Research Paper Example After the invention of the computer, various networks were made to ensure the computers were able to communicate with each other. As time progressed, developments were achieved in the application of the internet in business transactions but the systems in place were not in a capacity to handle all the needs. This provided loopholes for the commission of internet crimes by criminals, as they would hide the identity while undertaking their attacks thus leaving limited evidence of themselves. In mid-1990’s, the internet frauds had increased to alarming rates and researches on the causes of the rapid growth and how it could be curbed were conducted. During the period towards the end of the twentieth century, the â€Å"dot.com† era, which was manifested by increased use of internet by organizations and people, resulted in increase of internet fraud. Due to the continuous technological advancement, the internet frauds have been on the increase with the current number of fraud s being around three times those conducted in mid-1990. There are two types of internet fraud namely offline and online. In offline fraud, the criminal usually steal personal data mostly financial and use it to make transactions. In the online fraud, criminals pose as esteemed institution and thus receive personal data, which they illegally use to make transaction. Some of the commonly used internet fraud include international modem dialer, investment schemes, fake legal schemes, market manipulation; work at home schemes, pharming, phishing, auction, and online shopping. This paper seeks to give an in-depth analysis of auction internet fraud. Online Auction Fraud Due to the continuous technological development, the internet has provided a platform in which direct interaction of the buyer and the seller is not necessary for a transaction to be effectively completed. Criminal have used advantage of this where they misrepresent a product advertised for sale through the internet auction site, fail to deliver the item, or deliver an item but not as specified by the customer after receiving all the money as stipulated in their agreement with the customers. This is usually defined as online auction fraud. To avoid one being a victim of such activities, it is often advisable to undertake a business transaction with companies or individuals one is well conversant with, clearly understand the contract terms, read the privacy policy and use the most secure means of remitting personal information (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2006). Methods of victimization Since the internet auction process involves bidding by the interested parties, some people use this opportunity to victimize their target customers. Some of the most commonly used victimization methods include: Non-delivery- this usually occurs when one puts an item for bid whereas no such item exists. Therefore, despite the customer satisfying all the conditions set, he will never get the item (Anon, 2009.). During the transaction, the sellers get the financial details of the customer and thus may use them to exploit him/her further. Misrepresentation- this is mainly executed by altering the actual details of an item in order to win a customer. In most cases, the images are used since they can easily be manipulated. Triangulation- this is somehow technical and involves a person buying something from an online seller using stolen details.