Cyber Theft - Cyber Crime Is Not Cool

Veronica Blanco

Business Law – Spring 2016

Ms. Jessica Braverman, Esq.

3/7/2016

Cyber Crime is not Cool

I was a victim of cyber theft in 2012. During my trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, my debit card was declined. I immediately called my bank to inquire what why my card was being declined. I knew that there was sufficient amount of money, considering I was on vacation.

After going through the usual verification questions, I was informed that there was unusual activity on my card. Charges in New York City, charges in North Carolina and to my surprise an annual membership to singles.com.  This activity alerted the bank’s system and the bank put my card on hold until I contacted them, they tried to call me at home since I had not provided my mobile number as secondary contact number.

The agent suggested that I cancel the credit card to assure that there wouldn’t be additional charges made. The only problem was that I wouldn’t be able to get a temporary card because there weren’t any branches in Orlando or Miami which was my next destination.

             Fortunately, I was traveling with my sisters and mom. They were able to pay for my expenses while we were at Disneyworld until I got to my hotel where my credit card was in the safety deposit box in the room.

Cyber Crime is defined as any criminal activity occurring via a computer in the virtual community of the Internet. (Miller) A computer crime is any violation of criminal law that involves knowledge of computer technology for its perpetration, investigation, or prosecution. In the general sense, cyber crime refers to any illegal activity that involves the use of a computer.

Cyber Theft is described as stealing of financial and/or personal information through the use of computers for making its fraudulent or other illegal use. (Miller)  A cyber attack occurs when a computer becomes the target of a cyber criminal who has the intention of causing serious damage. (Miller) 

           In this unfortunate situation, I was the victim of a computer crime which resulted in a cyber crime, that immediately caused the Cyber Fraud unit to step in and invalidate my credit card to make additional online purchases and/or commit Online Retail Fraud. (www.fbi.gov)