The Past, Present And Future Of Cyber Fraud.

Adam Johnston and Scott Spriggs were incarcerated at Marion Correctional Institution (MCI), a low-security facility which utilized inmate labor to recycle old computers. Spriggs and Johnson handled and snatched dozens of parts to build two new machines to operate from within MCI. The computers were revealed to contain several applications for credit cards, pornography, and research on tax refund fraud. The inmates were also capable of issuing new passes for inmates to attain restricted access to numerous areas throughout the prison.

Incidentally, the pair ran connection cables through the ceiling and down to the network switch, where it was linked to port sixteen, and acquired internet access. Once they were connected, they viewed articles on home-made drugs, submitting fraudulent tax returns, and credit cards. In addition, they stole the identity of another inmate and applied his name and social security number for five different credit card applications. Investigators discovered an inventory of hacking tools, as well as brute force password crackers, an email spamming program, and a Java-based tool employed to perpetrate man-in-the-middle attacks. The abundance of prohibited programs allowed the pair to grant passes to prisoners and to retrieve inmate records such as disciplinary records, sentencing data, and prisoner locations.

The worst possible scenario imaginable is if the inmates attained access to all the cell doors to execute hits throughout the prison network or slowly siphoned inmates out of prison for a hefty price. The future of cybercrime from within the prison system appears unlimited as guards lack the capabilities of even keeping drugs out of prisons.

Additionally, for those who were not aware that dark net exchange sites amongst hackers and fraudsters have been discovered trading W-2 tax form data, which included personal identifiable information belonging to many potential victims such as; social security numbers, employers, and addresses. The data is available for as low as four dollars per exchange through cryptocurrencies as a means of anonymity during the transactions. The information available on the dark net was most likely stolen by hacking one or more tax processing services. The information acquired is substantial enough for a hacker to be granted access to claim a refund on the taxpayer’s behalf, and for a fraudster to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by claiming the return before the actual taxpayer can.

A globally renowned cryptocurrency by the name of Bitcoin is frequently promoted as an anonymous digital currency that provides a high level of user privacy and security, which is being utilized in the dark web. Cybercriminals can hide their identities behind a wallet address and create more addresses if desired for their bitcoin exchanges. It is suggested for the public to abstain from procrastinating and file their returns immediately as an access control to prohibit these cybercriminals from abusing their stolen data. Furthermore, taxpayers should also periodically obtain a free copy of their credit report to investigate for any unapproved use. In addition, as a last resort taxpayers may always file a form 14039, requesting an Identity Protection pin from the IRS to assure the security of their information.

In conclusion cybersecurity fraud will continue to switch things up and evolve to affect millions of lives around the world. The ongoing war between cybercriminals and law enforcement regarding cyber fraud is going to boil over with issues such as; cryptocurrencies and security measures that will be stringently addressed. It will intensify eventually to the point where we will witness legislation being propositioned in historic proportions such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that confronted fraudulent accounting activities.