Email Related Crime


by Tarsem - Date: 2007-02-08 - Word Count: 323 Share This!

Email has fast emerged as the world's most preferred form of communication. Billions of email messages traverse the globe daily. Like any other form of communication, email is also misused by criminal elements.

The ease, speed and relative anonymity of email has made it a powerful tool for criminals. Some of the major email related crimes are:

1. Email spoofing
2. Sending malicious codes through email
3. Email bombing
4. Sending threatening emails
5. Defamatory emails 6. Email frauds

1. Email spoofing

A spoofed email is one that appears to originate from one source but has actually emerged from another source. Email spoofing is usually done by falsifying the name and / or email address of the originator of the email.

Usually to send an email the sender has to enter the following information:

i. email address of the receiver of the email
ii. email address(es) of the person(s) who will receive a copy of the email (referred to as CC for carbon copy)
iii. email address(es) of the person(s) who will receive a copy of the email (referred to as CC for carbon copy, but whose identities will not be known to the other recipients of the e-mail (known as BCC for blind carbon copy)
iv. Subject of the message (a short title / description of the message)
v. Message

Certain web-based email services like www.SendFakeMail.com, offer a facility wherein in addition to the above, a sender can also enter the email address of the purported sender of the email.

Consider Mr. Siddharth whose email address is siddharth@hotmail.com. His friend Girish's email address is girish@yahoo.com. Using SendFakeMail, Siddharth can send emails purporting to be sent from Girish's email account. All he has to do is enter girish@yahoo.com in the space provided for sender's email address. Girish's friends would trust such emails, as they would presume that they have come from Girish (whom they trust). Siddharth can use this misplaced trust to send viruses, Trojans, worms etc. to Girish's friends, who would unwittingly download them... More Information on http://www.lawcyber.blogspot.com


Related Tags: crime, cyber law, cyber crime

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