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Fraud Updates
PCB News
Fraud Updates 2003
31 October
It has been reported that a new UK law criminalising the sending of spam will be enforced throughout the Globe. The UK enforcement agencies will use existing extradition treaties in order to bring the cybercriminals to the UK to be prosecuted. Extradition will initially be used to target the individuals sending spam. However it may be expanded to deal with virus writers, hackers and other forms of cybercrime.
A large amount of spam involves child pornography, fraud and other forms of criminality. There have been a number of recent reports of spam emails being sent to online bank customers in order to dupe the recipients into disclosing their bank details to fraudsters. Spam may also contain viruses and trojan horse programs which infect a recipient's computer.
This development is to be welcomed. However the enforcement agencies have a complex task ahead of them. The existing extradition legislation can be slow and the UK does not have mutual extradition treaties with all jurisdictions. Victims of these types of cybercrime may find that they are able to use the civil courts in order to locate cyber criminals and freeze their assets. This may prove to be a more effective deterrent than a criminal prosecution and may enable a victim to recover any assets lost as a result of the cyber criminals activities.
28 October
It has been reported today that a number of High Street banks have been targeted by online fraudsters. The fraudsters send emails, which appear authentic, to customers, inviting them to log on to the bank's website and verify their account details including their personal identification number. The website to which the emails are linked is bogus although again it appears to be authentic.
This type of fraud is commonly known as Phishing and is another example of identity theft. It has already been considered to be a significant problem in the US, Australia and New Zealand. However banks in the UK have been accused of being slow to warn customers of this new fraud.
Customers and banks should be aware that when funds are stolen it may be possible to use the civil courts in order to freeze those assets and obtain disclosure from third parties as to their whereabouts. Taking action against fraudsters may not only act as a deterrent against further attacks it may also result in the recovery of stolen assets.
14 October
It has been reported that a fraud victim, who believed documents in court proceedings may be relevant to the applicant's own case, has been granted access to those documents by the English courts. Those documents related to allegations of fraud against insurance brokers.
Mr Justice Coleman held it was entirely appropriate to disclose the documents so that the applicant could consider whether to make similar allegations of fraud against the brokers. There could be no public policy in withholding access to such documents where there was some basis for their relevance.
This is an example of the power of the English civil courts to order discovery. Other examples include cases where a claimant had neither brought nor intended to bring civil proceedings and to cases where the wrongdoing was criminal, providing that the remedy was restricted to the victim of the wrongdoing. The English courts may also grant orders against defendants in the UK in support of proceedings being brought in another jurisdiction.
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