THE GREATEST CRIME OF ALL TIME AND NOBODY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT OR GOVERNMNET CARES.
Warren Mallard, a friend of this website, has again made a contribution. His views on this issue are both disturbing and entirely sensible.
I have been engaged in law enforcement now for 40 years continuously, 11 as a New South Wales police officer and 29 as a licensed private investigator heading up one of Sydney's largest general investigation companies, Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group. www.investigators.net.au More recently I have developed a Forensic Information Technology department and laboratory because of the enormous increase in inquiries related to internet/e-mail crime and the evident inability for law enforcement agencies to cope.
During this same period I have never encountered crime on such a scale as what I am presently experiencing through my clients, most of which is related to cyber crime. Almost every day I receive e-mails from the victims of internet/e-mail fraud. They all come with similar stories, mostly they have fallen victim to devious individuals that have set out to take advantage of either their naivety or their kind hearts. These criminals have in the main obtained benefits by deception. Some would call it stupidity on the part of the victims, those less harsh and judgmental realise that not all of us are equipped with a top two percentile IQ and many of these victims are just lonely and searching for love, understanding and friendship. Many are just trying to do business in making a purchase or selling a product on E-bay.
Almost all of these victims have been to police and almost all have been told that in the scheme of things their matter is inconsequential. Inconsequential to whom I ask? Most of these victims have lost consider sums of money and in some cases their life's savings and to most of these victims, this brings about depression, added costs to the health system and in the extreme cases, suicide.
I am not talking about thousands of dollars here, I am talking about billions of dollars globally. Currently I have one client who lost $500,000.00 and another, $45,000.00 . Both of these persons are decent yet naïve individuals who have been trusting and cleverly duped by professional internet predators.
The technology we all worship and use every day, the internet, has created a most powerful means for criminals to defraud and through the internet they trawl for their victims on Facebook, Chat Lines, Twitter, Dating Agencies and E-Bay. There are many more avenues for these predators to reap their illicit harvest. It's not all about money of course. The internet also allows the unscrupulous and unethical to victimise, defame, slander and manifest themselves in the lives of others with what appears to be total immunity to detection and prosecution.
This is where the real problem lies, the inaction of government in regulation and law enforcement agencies in investigation and enforcement. Because these bodies almost never act upon these complaints citing a lack of resources, funding or an inability to trace e-mail addresses , there are no real figures as to just how many victims there really are out there.
My estimate is that internet fraud/crime makes any other type of crime in terms of its human and financial toll, pale into insignificance. Recent research has demonstrated that a large percentage of the world population have already been defrauded over the internet. Some say as much as 30%.
Where does someone go when they have been defamed, slandered or lost their life's savings to an internet fraudster? Will the ISP, (internet Service Providers) say Hotmail, Yahoo etc. assist them if the police wont? The answer here is generally no. ISP's claim that privacy laws prevent them from disclosing the identity of the sender. Of course they don't want to be sued and must play by the privacy rules. There are no rules or legal obligations when it comes to being able to create an e-mail address however. Police have the power to demand this information however seldom do unless it's a major crime. Lawyers can commence an action against the ISP however again this is a very costly process and one that most victims after having lost their life savings can afford.
Just what constitutes a major crime these days when we have all been conditioned to believe that at some time or another we will most probably lose our cars, phones and computers to theft or have our homes broken into? The overwhelming majority of these crimes go unsolved also. Many are not even investigated. Recently one of my clients was told that the cost of ascertaining the identity of a sender of a death threat message was $220.00 and couldn't be justified. The same old police line is wheeled out to the victims, "In the scheme of things your matter is not all that important and we have to prioritise these matters" What this really means is that they don't have the resources.
Can a private investigator find the persons responsible and help bring them to justice. Yes, the main difference being that private investigators work on a service agreement and are paid for that assistance. It's generally a difficult and costly process that also involves actions through the legal system to obtain subpoenas on the ISP's to provide the identities of the villains. Once they are identified the investigative process can begin. We often go down this path however if you have been a victim of a scam, then chances are you cant afford to pay for an investigation. In the end, will the person responsible for the crime have the funds for the client to recover? In most cases the answer is no. Will the client be prepared to go forward with an investigation on the basis of principle alone? Generally not.
How then do we fix this enormous and rapidly increasing problem?
It seems to me that today in most developed nations we need proof of identity to obtain employment, a driving license, a passport, a dog registration, to qualify for a pension or social security benefits, to buy liquor and cigarettes, to open a bank account etc. Why is it then that the fastest vehicle on the planet, the internet, does not require a license to get on board? How is it that users can make false e-mail addresses under assumed names, are encouraged the ISPs to do so and retain total anonymity going about defrauding and manifesting themselves upon the innocent and unsuspecting? Why is it that ISPs encourage you to use an alias? Greed of course, there is no other plausible and cogent excuse. They want you to use their product as many times as possible. They know what you are doing because they are constantly served with legal documents requesting the identity of the sender.
It's simple, the internet and those behind it have become so powerful and so wealthy that any involvement by governments or law enforcement agencies to bring about legislation that would require users to provide proof of identity to open an e-mail account would I suspect be met with great opposition from them. At present no such laws exist.
It seems to me that the reason we have to provide proof of identity is to minimise crime and protect the victims of crime. Certainly this alone will not prevent crime however the proof is in the unquestionable evidence that exists today that proof of identity does dramatically reduce crime.
Imagine not being able to identify the owner/driver of a motor vehicle that has collided with your vehicle?
What the world needs is global legislation regarding proof of identity with regard to individuals making application for e-mail addresses. It doesn't seem like an insurmountable task to me. Imaging just how much crime and the consequences of these crimes could be reduced. It is very important to mention that much of the proceeds of internet crime like many crimes these days end up in the illicit drug, child pornography and terrorism industries.
Some would say that some countries will not become a party to this idea. I can only imagine that the countries who are prominent in this type of fraud such as the undeveloped African nations that are so prevalent in the media would welcome such a move. What if these countries don't become a party to this universal law? It's simple, they don't get to send e-mails outside of that country. They will soon get the message I can assure you. Businesses and Governments could not survive today without the internet. It's a no brainer really.
I believe that we have all become so enamoured of the internet and its wonderful communicative, educative, money making and creative abilities that we have also become scared that to legislate will in some way take away a fraction of what we have all become so reliant upon. Just like having to provide proof of identity to obtain a license to drive a car, it wont.
Certainly, before e-mail crime there was ordinary mail crime however the differences in expedience, convenience, reaching a victim and gathering evidence are worlds apart. The ability to commit mass crime is far greater now. Committing crime by mail was complex and left many forensic avenues that could bring the perpetrator undone. Not so with e-mail crime, unless proof of identity laws are enacted. These laws wont stop individuals disguising themselves if they wish, they will however allow the victims and the law enforcement agencies to easily gather the evidence of the user of that e-mail address and seek recourse. Its not a silver bullet however it will reduce internet fraud on a massive scale.
Mobile telephones is another area where these laws need to be enacted. At present you can by a phone card without any proof of identity and do exactly what is being done on the internet and again without much chance of detection or giving the victims some avenue of recourse. Criminals do this to avoid detection.
What do I say to those who chant the old 'Buyer Beware' mantra? Those who say, "You cant protect fools and you cant put brains in statues". We are not all equal, not all are smart enough to smell a scam, not all are lucky in love and not all have the ability to sort out their own problems. On top of this, these scammers are increasingly clever in their planning and execution. The very fact that law enforcement agencies and Governments have done nothing about this problem is one of the saddest indictments of these modern times. I fear the victims are in the millions and increasing every day. My statistics certainly support this. Something must be done. Someone has to have the courage and commitment to act.
Warren Mallard
Managing Director
Certificate IV Investigative Practice & Procedure
Advanced Diploma Security Risk Management
Lyonswood Investigations & Forensic
Group
Master Private Investigators License No: 409413361
Master Security License No: 408273284
www.investigators.net.au
www.forensicitservices.com.au
www.relationshipprivateinvestigations.com.au
www.catchacheatingspouse.com.au
www.missingpeople.net.au
1300 GET PROOF
1300 438 776