Computer fraud

The term fraud is used to describe such acts as deception, bribery, forgery, extortion, corruption, theft, conspiracy, embezzlement, misappropriation, false representation, concealment of material facts and collusion. Computer fraud means using the computer in some way to commit dishonesty by obtaining an advantage or causing loss of something of value. This could take form in a number of ways, including program fraud, hacking, e-mail hoaxes, auction and retail sales schemes, investment schemes and people claiming to be experts on subject areas.

Frauds can be categorised by the type of victim involved. The most common groups of victims are:
• Investors
• Creditors
• Businesses
• Banks or other financial institutions
• Central or local government
• Fraud by manipulating financial markets

Frauds can also be categorised by the technique or activity used by the fraudster. These include:
• Advance fee frauds
• Bogus invoices
• Computer hacking of information or property
• Corruption and bribery
• Counterfeiting, forgery, or copyright abuse
• Credit Card fraud
• False Accounting - manipulation of accounts and accounting records
• Fraudulent bankruptcy - exploitation of cross-border corporate structures
• Insurance fraud
• Internet online scams - auctions, credit card purchases, investment scams
• Investment fraud
• Long Firm fraud
• Misappropriation of assets
• Money laundering
• Mortgage Fraud
• Payroll fraud
• Principal agents - failure of systems to restrict key individuals
• Pyramid schemes
• Unsolicited letter frauds.

Anyone, especially students, who uses the Internet is a potential candidate for being a victim of computer crime. The best way to protect themselves by using critical thinking skills. By thinking and reasoning their way through each time they visit a website, join a chat room, or read e-mail, the students can gain an understanding of what is valid and what/who they should deter their attention. The Internet is not a place where students should trust everything. Use good judgment and be very careful.

Civil and public law. Summary

Civil law is the section of the law that deals with disputes among citizens within country. Public law is the law governing relationships between individuals (citizens, companies) and the state. The main categories of civil law are; torts, trust, probate. Constitutional law, International law and crimes are sub-divisions of public law.
The party which brings a criminal action is called prosecution and it is nearly always the state. The party bringing a civil action is the plaintiff and usually it is individuals. There is a difference between standards of proof: in a criminal action “prosecution must prove the guilt of a criminal action “beyond a reasonable doubt”, the plaintiff in a civil action is required to prove his case “on the balance of probabilities””. If the defendant looses a civil case, he should pay damages to the plaintiff. If the defendant looses a criminal case, he may be forced to pay a fine and to pay legal costs of the prosecution.
There are different punishments of disobeying in criminal and civil law. In any court disobeying loser may constitute a criminal conduct. In civil law the loser without criminal penalty has to pay damages ordered by court.