The Cost of Cyber Crimes

In 2011, Norton released a report on cyber crimes. The report revealed the ferocious figure of US $ 388 billion lost every year in cyber crimes. This makes an average of around US $ 0.7 million per minute on an average. The report also uncovered that every second, 14 persons have been victimized by the cyber criminals.

This shows the severity of this problem and creates a big question mark for the law enforcement agencies worldwide. In order to avoid or minimize (because to be realistic, this cannot be completely eradicated) this menace, first the law enforcement agencies worldwide must be properly educated and then comes educating more than 1 billion internet users worldwide who are the easy catch for cyber crimes. Another problem is that only 21% of the victims reports cyber crimes to the law enforcement agencies which makes the task more difficult to address.

Although, it is very difficult for the law enforcement agencies to first acquaint themselves with the tactics to handle this problem and then educate the very large population worldwide so the responsibilities lies on the shoulders of the users to follow some very easy safety measures and safe themselves. The most common form of cyber crimes are Online Scams, Viruses and Phishing. Here are some useful tips through which you can save yourself of being a victim of these three dirty tactics:

Online Scams
Many times, the user receives an email in which he is informed that in some lotteries or draws (which are usually in millions of dollars) they have selected his name and asks for his bank account details to transfer the money online. Similarly, many people received emails from the widows of so-called former ministers, prime ministers or rulers of African countries having funds of millions of dollars and explained the situation by telling the user that due to their country’s situation and the hostile behavior of the present rulers towards her husband, she is unable to maintain the funds in her own country and then ask for your favor and offers a large amount in reward of your services. Then they will ask to send an amount in order to complete the documentation to release the blocked amount from the banks and to transfer it on your name and after receiving the money, they never responds you. For this kind of scams, all you have to do is not to respond them or send them any amount.

Viruses
There are thousands of viruses which usually spread through internet. These viruses can perform different actions from deleting your emails to partial or full collapse of your computer. In order to avoid viruses, one has to have a smart and updated virus removing system. Secondly, avoid opening emails from unknown addresses or where the subject lines are very strange e.g. “Last Chance to Win”, “You have won an iPhone” or “Buy best branded clothing” etc.

Phishing
The term “Phishing” is derived from “Fishing” where the fish is deceived by a small part of food which looks like real but the fish is pulled out of water when attempting to eat that dummy food. In this category of cyber crimes, the user usually receives an email which looks likes a legitimate one asking for your information specially related to financial services like bank account or credit card data. The easiest way to save you from Phishing is to contact the organization directly and immediately to verify as they are offering any such campaign or rewards or really asking any such information from their clients through email.

By following the above simple steps, we can save ourselves from cyber crimes and decrease this huge figure of $ 388 billion significantly which is going in the pockets of these online thieves. Another point here is that we must not hesitate in reporting the matter to the law enforcements agencies so that at least they can maintain a close eye on these people who are involved in this activity. It is also necessary for law enforcement agencies to maintain close coordination with their counterparts in other countries to initiate coordinated efforts against this severe offense.