CYBERCRIME
such as name, national employment number, some form of proof that you are eligible to work in the country (green card, passport details or visa details), date of birth and address.
Even at this early stage the above information can be, and oſten is, used by criminals to perpetrate crime such as benefit fraud (such as claiming unemployment payments), financial fraud (such as setting up false bank accounts or applying for loans), immigration fraud (such as applying for passports) or hard goods fraud (such as purchasing goods on credit using false details).
Sometimes, there will be telephone interviews prior to the face-to-face interview, when there is the opportunity for telephone scams where the candidate will unwittingly call a premium rate number and end up paying a considerable amount in order to chase a non-existent job. If they really want to go to town they will then offer the candidate a job, helping them choose a fake house or flat (taking a three-month deposit up front). Te first they know of the scam is when they turn up for work at the real company, and there is no job nor has there ever been one.
Some of the other employment scams include government jobs (premium rate calling scam), humanitarian jobs, mystery shopper (money wire transfer scam) and resumé blasting (spam emailing)
February
Even though it is a short month, February generates some of the more inventive Internet scams, especially as Valentine’s Day approaches. People are always looking for a killer giſt without a killer price tag. Criminals know that people love well-known brands and a good deal. In February, the online criminals are out in force, loving the business that we bring them from the following online ruses:
• Special offers for that unmissable Valentine’s day giſt: Each year, there are some new ‘must have’ Valentine’s giſts. Cybercriminals know what they are as well as we do. If you are loved up and planning something rash, beware of emails for engagement rings at too-good-to- be-true prices because not only will you not get what you paid for online, your computer will also be infected with malware and your identity stolen.
• Te giſt card: For those who find themselves at a loss for ideas, the perfect answer is a giſt card from a well-known retailer, from an unknown website. Oſten this scam is perpetrated via social media networks using banner ads or posts on the most popular platforms.
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“BEING THE VICTIM OF THE CYBERCRIMINAL CAN HAVE A MORE SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON REVENUE IN A SMALL COMPANY THAN IT DOES ON THE WORLD’S LARGEST BRANDS.”
• Fake flowers: Criminals set up fake florists' websites, complete with fake logos, such as an Interflora emblem, to convey legitimacy. Tese sites will take payment details and then perpetrate further fraud using the cardholder’s details.
• Te e-card: Criminals will deliver a mountain of spam in February with enigmatic messages from supposed romantic admirers. Tese e-cards will possibly contain malware but will certainly contain a link to a website which contains malware.
When looking at the rest of the year we have to consider the plethora of other online criminal activities that accompany national and religious holidays, vacation periods and other notable events such as TV, movie and music awards, etc. For example, you can expect a focus on online dating scams in the spring and travel scams in the summer and winter.
Does cybercrime really affect the brand owner?
Tere is no doubt about it, Internet crime is big business, very big business, but cybercrime is usually targeted at the consumer rather than the brand owner, so does it really affect brand value?
Domain squatting alone is estimated to cost brand owners more than $1 million per brand per year and 25 percent of the world’s email advertises fake or unlicensed drugs, costing pharmaceutical companies around $46 billion every year. According to a 2012 report, the net cost of cybercrime is $388 billion—equivalent to the GDP of Sweden, the 32nd-richest country in the world.
Even smaller brand owners are affected; being the victim of the cybercriminal can have a more significant effect on revenue in a small company than it does on the world’s largest brands. For example, counterfeiting is not confined to haute couture handbags, shoes and designer clothing,
Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 2, Issue 1
An experienced marketing and product professional, Andy Churley’s responsibilities at NetNames include strategy development and direction of NetNames’ global marketing activities. Churley is an expert in the fields of brand protection, domain name management and IT security and works with companies in developing their new TLD strategies. He is a chartered engineer, a European engineer and a chartered IT professional, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in engineering and a Master’s degree in business administration.
or luxury Swiss watches; brake pads, keyrings, dog collars, fence posts and hair products are all the target of the cybercriminal. In short, if it can be counterfeited and sold online it will be.
Money can also be made by buying domain names and selling them in bad faith, and the cybercriminal will be online already profiting from brand owners’ hard-earned reputations.
What can brand owners do?
Te simple answer is ‘be vigilant’. Make sure you monitor your brand online, and not just for mentions on Facebook and Twitter. Early detection and rapid response is proved to deter cybercriminals and oſten leads them to go aſter soſter targets such as other less vigilant brands. Coverage is important. Make sure that you monitor the Internet in its broadest aspect, in local language. Finally, make sure you enforce rapidly and accurately in order to remove websites, product listings, search engine adverts and infringing domain names.
Andy Churley is group marketing director at NetNames. He can be contacted at:
andy.churley@
netnames.com
www.worldipreview.com
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