E-fraud refers to illegal activities conducted online such as spamming, identity theft, and drug trafficking. There are different types of e-fraud including spam, fraud, harassment, and drug trafficking. To avoid e-fraud, people should use escrow services, avoid providing personal information to unknown sites, only use credit cards for online purchases in case of disputes, verify the legitimacy of websites and offers, and ensure they know and trust any company before making purchases.

1. Jason A. Sirmon COMM 306

2. What the heck is it? E-Fraud is an umbrella term that covers numerous activities across the Internet with the common intent of which is to make money or obtain services using illegally or fraudulently obtained information.

3. Different Types of E-Fraud

4. SPAM: Unsolicited sending of bulk email for commercial purposes

5. Fraud: Altering computer input in an unauthorized way Destroying, suppressing, or stealing output to conceal unauthorized transactions. Altering or deleting stored data Facilitated using computer systems, including bank fraud, identity theft, extortion

6. Harassment: Obscenities and derogatory comments Gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation Chat rooms, newsgroups, sending hate e-mail Cyber bullying, cyber stalking, Online predator

7. Drug trafficking: To sell illegal substances through encrypted e-mail or other technology Use courier Web sites to track illegal packages of pills Swapping recipes

8. Harassment: Obscenities and derogatory comments Gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation Chat rooms, newsgroups, sending hate e-mail Cyber bullying, cyber stalking, Online predator

9. Ways to avoid E-FRAUD - There are Internet middlemen you can use. Escrow services like tradesafe.com can help you prevent being ripped off by holding your money until your purchase has been delivered. - Never give out financial or other personal information, such as bank account or credit card numbers unless you are sure that the company is legitimate - Credit card payment is safest because you can dispute the charges if the goods are misrepresented or never arrive.

10. Ways to avoid E-FRAUD - Never judge a web site by its appearance - Make sure you completely understand the offer. Read all the information about the products or services the company is offering. - When dealing with a company, before you make a purchase, be sure that they are someone you know and trust.

11. References 7th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, 10-13 July 2003, Adelaide, South Australia Page 18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_crime http://www.marcusevans.com/marcusevans-conferences-event-details.asp?EventID=17422&SectorID=39 The Business Link “AVOIDING E-FRAUD” 12/08 Calgary, Alberta www.elcnetwork.ca/ebusiness/efc_ avoid ing_ e - fraud .pdf This presentation was completed for our Integrated Strategic Communication class at Queens University of Charlotte. Contact the authors at [email_address]