Irrespective of whoever wins the debate of “Internet is a boom or bane for mankind”, the argument of cyberattacks, cybersecurity, and cybercrimes never fails to rise, while people are speaking in favor of the internet is a bane.

But what exactly are cybercrimes?  The common purpose behind any kind of cybercrime is to invade someone’s privacy, which includes their sensible and valuable data, cyberstalking, and harassment.

But if you think that victims can do absolutely nothing, you are wrong. If you are aware of your PC, cyber crimes are actually very easy to prevent.

But the key here is to be aware.

But now, don’t you worry. Below, I’ve listed the five popular cybercrimes and how one can prevent them. 

1.    Spoofing and Phishing scams

Although the name is not as self-explanatory as you wish it to be, this crime involves you being tricked by the cybercriminal into hacking or luring your revealing and sensitive personal data, including login credentials, credit card numbers, PINs, and more.

But is it so easy for anyone to trick anyone into revealing such important information? This is why these cybercriminals accomplish their tasks using phishing websites that look nothing less than legitimate websites.

This website will ask you to enter several bits of personal information, similar to what I listed above. But today you are living in the 21st century, and technology has become so advanced that you can easily avoid such scams by using a phishing filter feature on your web browser.

2.    Identity theft scams

Even before the internet, these scams existed but as you can evaluate, the internet has made things a lot easier for these cybercriminals.

These scams include those cyber crooks and criminals who have had access to your valuable credentials, like credit card details, who may use them to make purchases in your name. You may wonder how do they get access to such sensitive information. Phishing is a big contributor to the same. In 2020 alone, the cost of data breaches has amounted to about 2 million U.S. Dollars.

To know whether you are under the radar of a cybercriminal, the easiest method is by analyzing all your bank accounts. Any suspicious activity, be it spam mail, or regular mail needs to be reported. Don’t procrastinate over such matters. Instead, be proactive.

3.    Online harassment

The consequences of online harassment may not look as destructive but there have been cases where they have been extremely fatal. Harassment online usually starts on various social media platforms. This involves the cyberbully harassing the victim by threatening emails, messages, and posts.

These days, things have become a lot simpler when it comes to reporting these crimes. The key here is for the victim to know that you must not reveal sensitive information to their bully. Because in most cases, the bully doesn’t know more than what they have shown on their social media.

4.    Cyberstalking

A lot like online harassment cyberstalking involves the cybercriminal who can go as far as monitoring their victim’s online activity. This includes even injecting the victim’s personal computer with malware so that it gives them greater access to their daily life.

Like online harassment, these need to be reported to authorities as soon as the victim feels something is wrong. Again, the key is to be proactive.

5.    Privacy Invasion

Nobody likes their privacy to be invaded, offline or online. Online privacy invasion includes reading emails, messages, and monitoring other online activities. Many of these are punishable, under the law.

Whenever you are feeling like something is wrong with your accounts, on various social media platforms, you can call the authorities and file complaints.

Over to you…

All through the article, I have mentioned several times that on being faced with such crimes, you must report it to the concerned authorities. But who are these authorities? And, what else can be done?

For all the online crimes, you need to contact the cyber cell authorities present in your region. Other than that, you can also run a check on websites like Crim Check before you head out to authorities for strict action. They are a non-profit organization and will provide you professional services, with support and the most accurate results.

 

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