Benefits to the Criminal

The virtual cyber scammer is really no different then the traditional scam artist of the real world. However, the online scam artist has many advantages over the traditional scam artist. The online scam artist can target a tremendously large audience without ever having to come into physical contact with those they plan to deceive. Furthermore, the online scam artist doesn't need much time, effort or money to reach their intended audience. It may take only fifteen minutes or so for the online scammer to compose and send a customized email message to millions of people. It would take months if not more, for the traditional scam artist to accomplish such a task. This is just one reason why many scammers are making their way into cyberspace.

Not only is it easy for cyber scammers to deceive others online. It is also easy for them to cover their tracks. With the use of aliases and anonymous re-mailers they can hide their identity and location. Furthermore, because the perpetrator and victim may be a far distance from one another, multiple jurisdictions may be involved; this makes the situation more difficult to deal with. Moreover, with a majority of victims neglecting to file complaints, making it less likely for the fraudster to get caught; why would anyone want to pick another profession?

The benefits to the Internet based scammer against the traditional criminal are:

·         Low financial / manpower requirements;

·         No physical presence required;

·         Anonymity;

·         No geographical boundaries;

·         Encryption is better than a good disguise;

·         Ability to wipe out evidence of a crime (if they are competent);

·         Fewer ethical constraints;

·         No live witnesses.

So Internet based scams are low risk, reasonably easy and hard to trace.