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Are There Highwaymen on The Information Super Highway?

by Capt. Joseph Bruno, Atlantic County Sheriffs Office.

The Information Super Highway, Cyber Space, the Internet. . certainly the wave of the future, but are there Highwaymen on the Information Super Highway?

Without a doubt, the Internet has changed the way America communicates and does business. Just as the way doing business has changed, crime has kept pace.

Fraud is probably the greatest criminal threat to the average person on the Internet. There are get rich quick schemes in abundance on the usenet pages and in most cases "scheme" is the operative word. Many of these are the same type of mail order or phone scams that have been prevalent for years, just on another forum. Perhaps the most common of these is the old "Send me five dollars in the mail (cash or money order please, no checks) and I'll e-mail you back a list of 20 guaranteed ways to make money on the Internet". Number 1 on that list is to place an ad which says "Send me five dollars in the mail (cash or money order please, no checks) and I'll e-mail you back a list of 20 guaranteed ways to make money on the Internet".

There are also the traditional "How to Make Money at Home" offers by (take your pick) stuffing envelopes, assembling assorted items, typing, clipping articles from newspaper or magazines, etc. Most of these provide you with a list of companies that use these services but you are on your own to contact them and (hopefully) be hired to perform these various services.

There is also the outright fraud, pay for something that you never receive, send your credit card number to pay for something and get your next credit card bill delivered in a box by UPS.

There are also "stock offerings" in various non-existent business ventures, phony charities, lotteries, contest entry fee or prize delivery fee, phony college degrees, memberships to fictitious organizations and more.

If you want to avoid being "road kill" on the information super highway remember to use just a little common sense.

If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Check out carefully all offers before sending money or credit card numbers. Get a physical address and contact the local better business bureau or police.

Report and assist in the prosecution of any person or organization that has defrauded you. Much of this type of crime goes unreported because people don't want to appear gullible. But let's face facts, these operations work on volume, you're not alone in getting ripped off but you can help prevent the same thing happening to someone else.

If you're not sure about one of these offers, stay away from it.

While you don't have to worry about being held up at gun point at a "rest stop," or getting lost taking some "back-road" short cut along the I-Way, you do need to be aware of frauds which can separate you from your hard earned money.