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The term "Internet
fraud" refers generally to any type of fraud
scheme that uses one or more components of the
Internet - such as chat rooms, e-mail, message
boards, or Web sites - to present fraudulent
solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct
fraudulent transactions, or to transmit the
proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or
to other connected with the scheme.
If you use the
Internet with any frequency, you'll soon see
that people and things online tend to move, as
the saying goes, on "Internet time." For most
people, that phrase simply means that things
seem to happen more quickly on the Internet --
business decisions, information-searching,
personal interactions, to name a few - and to
happen before, during, or after ordinary
"bricks-and-mortar" business hours.
Unfortunately,
people who engage in fraud often operate in
"Internet time" as well. They seek to take
advantage of the Internet's unique capabilities
-- for example, by sending e-mail messages
worldwide in seconds, or posting Web site
information that is readily accessible from
anywhere in the world - to carry out various
types of fraudulent schemes more quickly than
was possible with many fraud schemes in the
past.
The major types of
Internet fraud include Auction and Retail
Schemes Online, Business
Opportunity/"Work-at-Home" Schemes Online,
Identity Theft and Fraud, Investment
Schemes Online, and Credit-Card Schemes.
Source: United
States Department of Justice:
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/internet/
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