An Identity Fraud Model Categorising Perpetrators, Channels, Methods of Attack, Victims and Organisational Impacts

This paper addresses many important questions. Firstly, what are the main identity fraud perpetrator categories? Secondly, what are the current Information Systems (IS) facilitated attack channels and methods used by identity fraud perpetrators? Thirdly, what are the effects sustained by targeted victim organisations? The major contribution of this paper is the development of an identity fraud perpetrator framework and an understanding of the model’s elements and relationships. This framework will be useful to law enforcement, business and government organisations when fighting identity crime. This research has spawned a larger research agenda into identity fraud

Participants Involved In Identity Fraud

This paper sets out a model of the participants involved in identity fraud. This model will be verified through discussions with industry experts from key Australian organisations involved in and impacted by identity fraud

Identity Fraud: The Player Landscape in Australia

This paper investigates and categorises players in the identity fraud landscape in Australia. The player categories include: government and non-government proof of identity (POI) issuers and users; law agencies; the perpetrator; target organisations; solution providers and experts; the media; and community interest groups. The various interactions and collective arrangements between these organisations within and across sectors are important for several reasons. Firstly, in Australia, participants and identity crime perpetrators usually need a ‘set’ of POI documents which sum to at least 100 points in order to open accounts or receive benefits. The POI gathering sequence is referred to as the ‘circularity effect’ of acquiring POI documents. Secondly, perpetrators attack the ‘weakest link’ across a targeted sector and within targeted organisations. A contribution of this paper is to educe how organisations, in an IS context, through knowledge management (KM), knowledge sharing, sense-making, and organisational learning, from within and across sectors, can collectively combat the identity crime phenomenon

Defining Identity Crimes

The objective of this paper is to report on the definitions of the terms used and in use across different regions for identity crime, namely, identity fraud, identity theft, and identity deception. The purpose is to clarify the meaning of the terms used with a view to gaining a consensus amongst the various stakeholders. This consensus is essential to enable further research. Without consensus measurement and comparisons are meaningless. Our study of identity fraud has an industry-driven research agenda. A grounded theory research methodology is used when interviewing government agencies and private organisation participants. Interviews sought to better understand current information and communications technology (ICT) practitioners’ security and privacy issues with respect to identity fraud perpetrator attacks. We found there to be consensus among stakeholders for the meaning of identity fraud and identity theft but less agreement for identity deception

An Examination of E-Banking Fraud Prevention and Detection in Nigerian Banks

E-banking offers a number of advantages to financial institutions, including convenience in terms of time and money. However, criminal activities in the information age have changed the way banking operations are performed. This has made e-banking an area of interest. The growth of cybercrime – particularly hacking, identity theft, phishing, Trojans, service denial attacks and account takeover– has created several challenges for financial institutions, especially regarding how they protect their assets and prevent their customers from becoming victims of cyber fraud. These criminal activities have remained prevalent due to certain features of cyber, such as the borderless nature of the internet and the continuous growth of the computer networks. Following these identified challenges for financial institutions, this study examines e-banking fraud prevention and detection in the Nigerian banking sector; particularly the current nature, impacts, contributing factors, and prevention and detection mechanisms of e-banking fraud in Nigerian banking institutions. This study adopts mixed research methods with the aid of descriptive and inferential analysis, which comprised exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for the quantitative data analysis, whilst thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data analysis. The theoretical framework was informed by Routine Activity Theory (RAT) and Fraud Management Lifecycle Theory (FMLT). The findings show that the factors contributing to the increase in e-banking fraud in Nigeria include ineffective banking operations, internal control issues, lack of customer awareness and bank staff training and education, inadequate infrastructure, presence of sophisticated technological tools in the hands of fraudsters, negligence of banks’ customers concerning their e-banking account devices, lack of compliance with the banking rules and regulations, and ineffective legal procedure and law enforcement. In addition, the enforcement of rules and regulations in relation to the prosecution of financial fraudsters has been passive in Nigeria. Moreover, the findings also show that the activities of each stage of fraud management lifecycle theory are interdependent and have a collective and considerable influence on combating e-banking fraud. The results of the findings confirm that routine activity theory is a real-world theoretical framework while applied to e-banking fraud. Also, from the analysis of the findings, this research offers a new model for e-banking fraud prevention and detection within the Nigerian banking sector. This new model confirms that to have perfect prevention and detection of e-banking fraud, there must be a presence of technological mechanisms, fraud monitoring, effective internal controls, customer complaints, whistle-blowing, surveillance mechanisms, staff-customer awareness and education, legal and judicial controls, institutional synergy mechanisms of in the banking systems. Finally, the findings from the analyses of this study have some significant implications; not only for academic researchers or scholars and accounting practitioners, but also for policymakers in the financial institutions and anti-fraud agencies in both the private and public sectors

Cyberstalking: a content analysis of gender-based offenses committed online.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.The 21st century has come up with the increased usage of technology and this has been welcomed by cyber stalkers for it has exacerbated cyberstalking. Cyberstalking therefore has grown considerably within the contemporary environment. Cyberstalking entails the inappropriate, uninvited social exchange behaviours initiated by a perpetrator via online or wireless communication technology and devices. Forms of cyberstalking includes sending threatening or obscene electronic emails, harassing in chat rooms, spamming, tracing another person's computer and internet activity, and posting threatening or harassing messages on blogs or through social media. The study utilised qualitative research methods in which documentary search was utilised as the secondary source of data collection. The study therefore gathered that gender based offences have considerably increased online. The study gathered that women (particularly young women aged 18-24) disproportionately experience severe types of cyber harassment, namely cyberstalking and online sexual harassment. The study also gathered that there are a number of ways which have been documented to deal with cybercrime. Raising awareness, setting up and supporting peer-support networks for the eradicating gender based offences committed online and there is need for industry regulations such as punishment from using twitter and YouTube if found to be offensive. The study also gathered that cyber stalkers are motivated by a number of ways. The first category are those that need to fulfil the psychological needs, wishes, or cravings regarding the victim on the part of the perpetrator and the second category are those motivated by the need to instil fear and gain control over the victim. The third group consists of those cyber stalkers who are motivated with the need to seek revenge or punish the victim. And the last group of cyber stalkers are those motivated by the need to build a relationship with the victim. The study therefore recommends for the need to implement cyber stalking regulations within South Africa for the ones that have been acted are not being efficient in combating cyberstalking

Policing internet fraud in Saudi Arabia : the mediation of risk in a theocratic society

This thesis aims to contribute to current debates on the policing of Internet fraud by introducing the Saudi Arabian experience. Drawing on the findings of field research focusing on the capital city of Riyadh, this study assesses the extent to which the Saudi state response to Internet fraud fits in with contemporary debates on cybercrime control within a late-modern penal framework as theorised in Western literature. At the same time, the study provides a detailed micro-sociological account of how the policing of Internet fraud is carried out in different police units within the city in which the case study was conducted. This involves an in-depth investigation into both the organisational and operational dimensions of the Saudi police response to such criminal activity. In this respect, the thesis explores and analyses how this new aspect of policing activity fits in with not only the existing organisational practices, but also the occupational and individual concerns of frontline officers (McCahill, 2002). Moreover, the study considers the implications of the Arab, Islamic and specifically Saudi culture, social norms, values and political environment for police responses to Internet fraud.An interpretive approach was adopted, employing a single case study strategy, which utilised two methods, i.e. participant observation and semi- structured interviews, to collect the required data. The observational data was generated from seven police departments that are directly involved in the policing of Internet fraud in Riyadh. Interviews were conducted with 41 participants, including representatives of both the managerial and operational levels at the units targeted in the observational work, officers from supporting departments and officers with key roles in planning, controlling and supervising the implementation of police policies and strategies in relation to Internet fraud, at both national and local levels.The findings revealed that the only way in which Saudi control strategies in response to cybercrime can be aligned with those followed by Western authorities is in relation to the state’s ‘expressive gestures’ (Garland, 1996, 2001). In this regard, evidence demonstrated that the legal and organisational innovations introduced by the Saudi state, ostensibly to address informational crimes, had serious limitations in achieving their declared purposes and were perceived by police participants as intended only to create and sustain a favourable global image. In contrast, the study failed to find a clear and wide application of plural policing of Internet fraud, which is characterised by networks of calculation through deploying instrumental ordering practices and risk management technologies. In addition to the limited relevance in an autocratic society such as Saudi Arabia of the ideological, socio-economic and political conditions that facilitated the emergence of the notion of plural policing in Western societies, the Saudi police organisation also appeared unready to engage in networked policing of Internet fraud.Moreover, it was shown how the policing response to Internet fraud was shaped by specific moral principles and cultural values. The findings of this thesis emphasise not only the persistent influence of ‘old’ cultural traditions and moral principles on officers’ perception of risk in Internet fraud and, consequently, their decision to respond to incidents brought to their attention, but also how police commitment to these cultural and religious values can place limits on the ability of technological systems to facilitate preventive policing of online fraudulent activities. Based on these findings, it is argued that policing of Internet fraud in Saudi Arabia, and the extent to which it aligns with the principles of crime control in late modernity, can only be understood by examining and analysing how new policing modes and cultural traditions merge and integrate to shape police response to such a novel criminal phenomenon as Internet fraud

Identity crimes in the UK: An examination of the strategies employed by front-line practitioners in the public and private sector to detect, prevent and mitigate against this crime

Identity related crimes are becoming increasingly prevalent in modern society. It is a crime type that concerns and impacts governments, private institutions and consumers worldwide. The aim of this research was to provide a better insight into how this crime is perceived by government and commercial institutions in the UK (including their views on offenders and victims), to review the processes employed by the public and private sector to assess risk and develop mitigation and prevention strategies and, in doing so, to discover how the most prominent criminological theories contribute to these efforts. Its final aim was to examine the current state and effectiveness of the collaborations and partnerships which have been developed across the public/private sector spectrum to understand and combat this crime. The methodology employed to undertake this research was based on conducting interviews with the key identity fraud and crime practitioners within major public and private organisations. Qualitative research was used in order to generate as much information as possible to form ideas. In addition, documents were also examined to complement the data collected from interviews. The researcher, due to previous employment within the UK financial sector dealing payment fraud, was ideally placed to access, and generate participation across government, law enforcement and other commercial organisations. The study highlights the current thinking and approaches by front-line identity crime prevention practitioners in defining, perceiving, measuring, policing, detecting, preventing and mitigating identity crime. It also highlights how heavily existing situational crime prevention techniques are being used to combat this issue and how they are complemented by partnership approaches and, most importantly, data-sharing which is widely accepted by practitioners as being a vitally effective tool in dealing with this issue. Problems exist in the majority of these areas with the central concern being the lack of leadership from the government in taking ownership of this insidious and escalating crime type which creates commercial and individual victims but also significantly, enables serious crimes such as human and drug trafficking and terrorism. Equally pressing is the need for the commercial sector, instead of treating identity crime as a phenomenon to be denied or ignored (or as one which needs to be accepted as a cost of doing business) to improve data sharing, strengthen its defences and review its approach to the treatment and support of victims

Developing a Model for Explaining Network Attributes and Relationships of Organised Crime Activities by Utilizing Network Science

The main objective of this research is to provide an innovative exploratory model for investigating substantive organised crime activities. The study articulates 30 critical independent variables related to organised crime, network science and a comprehensive exploratory approach which converts measurements of the variables into meaningful crime related inferences and conclusions. A case study was conducted to review initial feasibility of the selected variables, exploratory approach and model, and the results suggesting good effectiveness and useability