The Underbelly Of The Internet

Proceed with caution

Last year I found myself at my local police station filling a complaint against an unknown person for credit card fraud. It was the first time I had to file a FIR and it was also the first time I had experienced credit card fraud.

A false online transaction made to my card, the case could not be reversed by my bank and couldn’t be pursued by the police because the information recovered by the investigation placed the hacker outside of India, which meant it was outside the jurisdiction of our police.

This taught me an important lesson- in case of a crime; the country of origin of the victim is not as necessary as the country of origin of the wrong doer. I was naïve enough to think I had rights as a citizen to pursue and push investigation even if it extended the borders of the country.

I thought since the crime was committed online, and there are no borders on the internet, that the matter would be pursued by the authorities regardless; but I learnt shortly after that thousands cases like mine were filed in police stations across the nation everyday.

Every online shop, newsletter and streaming service will ask the user for their email id and most people will hand over this information for a 15% online discount coupon and regular sale updates. Our email is also where our credit card statements and alerts come in, so when email accounts are compromised, a lot is put at risk.

Even with security passwords and OTP’s there are ways in which people with bad intentions and brilliant tech skills can extract information from potential victims.

Banks and email servers will constantly upgrade their systems to combat the problem of hacking, but in spite of this each year over $190 billion dollars is lost in credit card fraud.

The reason cases pertaining to credit card fraud are often left mid way is that there are little or no leads to trace the aggressor. There are multiple websites that are hidden from Google and other search engines that are designed to scramble and bounce the identity information of the user. Billions of dollars are spent each year to upgrade and secure digital bank accounts, but the truth is that the aggressors and hackers are just as brilliant with technology as are the banks.

Even when the identity of an aggressor does get revealed, depending on geographic location and the laws of the country the aggressor is in, the outcome of their crimes decided. This is a process that can take years to unravel, in which time the stress and suffering for the victim is only prolonged.

The best way to protect yourself form frauds is to ensure constant security upgrades with your bank, communicate with your local branch manager to make sure you are insured, check your credit card statements diligently and set up fraud alerts on your account. Each bank will have its own process to ensure client safety and it always helps to communicate with the bank to stay secured.

Aside from financial safety there is also personal safety that all Internet users need to pay heed to. Especially for younger users of the Internet, it is important to realize that you are the first generation that has access to the Internet so early. Most millennials have grown up using some type of device to entertain or educate themselves, and if used carefully, the Internet truly is the greatest resource of our time.

Entire industries and careers thrive solely because of the Internet and it is vital to know that like every industry, there are companies and websites that lie on the fringe of the mainstream that are unsafe.

Social media is often used by predators to lure in vulnerable young people and has also become a place for people to normalize things like pedophilia, child pornography and other heinous acts that in no way can ever be justified. It is difficult to ‘child-lock’ the Internet but it is possible to be aware of the possibilities and pitfalls it entails. Communicating online is never as effective as communicating with people in person.

Many young adults that are cyber bullied or vulnerable in general are easier targets for predators, and that is why ‘games’ like Blue Whale were even designed. How they become popular is a whole other problem. Despite the fact the creator of the game is in jail, the game still exists in the underbelly of the internet. Via social media and chat rooms, the admin of Blue Whale is still able to engage with its audience. For anyone seeking assistance to combat depression of any kind, please reach out to therapists, counselors and other medical professionals in your schools and cities instead of reaching out to strangers on the Internet even if that feels safer.

The internet’s vast capacity to hold information can help numerous people self educate and create businesses. However the underbelly of the Internet that most users do not have access too, can and does negatively impact numerous lives in horrific ways and user discretion is more vital now than ever before.

Adults, teenagers and children all perceive and interact with the Internet differently and there is really no way to create a boundary once you have access to it. The best piece of advice that I can provide from my limited experience is, use it with caution and never provide details, personal or financial to an unknown source. Oftentimes social media and the internet will let us believe we are less alone, but just because 30 people view our snapchat story or 50 people like a post shared on instagram doesn’t make those people a real part of anyone’s actual day. Social media is powerful and a great medium to stay connected with people, but it doesn’t replace human value.