Shadow Crew

SHADOW CREW

1. There is anonymity on the web. Shadow crew members each had different screen names such as Kidd, MacGuyver, and Cumbo Johnny. There were over 4,000 members associated with the group. Members were located all over the world. They used clones and dummy accounts to try and conceal their whereabouts. They could pop up, or set up, and disband with a few keystrokes. The government was unable to find any concrete proof on the specific losses associated with their crime.

Average citizens can protect their identities online by maintaining computer security by using software such as Spybot, Macafee, or Norton. Also, you should never give out personal information to unknown web sites. Use only trusted payment sites such as Paypal or use preloaded credit cards for online purchases so if the information get stolen, they have a limited amount the thieves can take. Passwords should be a combination of numbers and letters and should not be used on several different accounts.

2. Identity thieves and fraudsters can be located anywhere around the world. They can also start up an operation and disband it at a moment's notice. Credit card and banking information can be stolen without any personal contact between the fraudster and the consumer. Personal information is often stolen without the victim's knowledge so it doesn't get reported right away. It takes on average one to six months for identity theft to be reported. Often credit card companies refuse to press charges. When police are notified of a crime, they have to locate the perpetrator, sometimes across the world, and get to them before they move on. Many times it takes the combined effort of many law enforcers in different parts of the world working together to catch these criminals and that takes time.

3. Some of the most common ways for electronically stealing personal information are phishing, in which a predator sends an email, instant message or text message pretending to be a legitimate company and requests information. These commonly come from fake emails asking you to update user information, passwords, or credit card details. Pharming is another way thieves can gain access to personal information. Pharming involves redirecting Web sites traffic to a bogus Web site to gain access to personal information. Key logging is another common way thieves get information. Key loggers are programs or software that log all the keystrokes made on a particular computer. This information is then reported to the hacker undetected. Spyware is another common way hacker's gain personal information. Spyware is often attached to music files or free programs and once downloaded can collect information about users and send that information off without the user's permission.

4. The most common ways that fraudsters use personal information are, to get credit