eCrime

eCrime, or Cybercrime, is one of the fastest-growing criminal activities of recent years. We are all potential targets if we use the internet or a mobile phone, and most of us will experience eCrime at some point in our lives.  eCrime can take many forms:

• Cyber-bullying
• Trolling someone online
• Sending abusive texts or emails
• Harassing someone online
• Posting embarrassing pictures or videos online without consent
• Intimidation
• Stalking
• Child exploitation and grooming
• Downloading pornographic material from the internet
• Identity fraud or Identity theft
• Financial scams
• Fraud or deception over the internet
• Virus attacks
• Setting up a false profile to target an individual or group

Victim impact

You may feel attacked and powerless to defend yourself even if you are computer literate. Some people might feel embarrassed about this kind of crime because they may have been tricked or think they could have done more to protect themselves.  Teenagers and children can be particularly sensitive to internet bullying, trolling, or grooming.  Many children don’t feel they have anyone to talk to about this type of crime.  Open the conversation with your children, and make sure they know they can come to you if they feel bullied online in any way.

How to Avoid becoming a Victim of eCrime:

The best way to avoid eCrime is to become cyber-savvy and use the internet and mobile phones carefully.

• Don’t give out personal details, think before you post pictures or video of you or your friends.
• Protect your passwords and use different passwords for different sites.
• Set your privacy settings to high on social media.
• Learn how to block instant messages or use filters to block emails, and don’t open emails from strange email addresses.
• Monitor your children’s online usage, and set parental controls on devices.
• Make sure you’re using a secure site when making any internet purchases.
• Put an adult-block on your computer, to block any unsavory websites.
• Make sure you have at least a basic firewall and virus scanner to protect your computer from virus attacks.

If you fall victim to eCrime:

There are a number of things you can do, depending on the type of crime that’s been committed.

• Do not delete any incriminating emails, texts, or messages.  These are evidence.  By using your ‘print screen’ button on your computer, or taking screenshots on your phone, you can create hard copies of digital evidence.
• Don’t reply to bullies or trolls.  This is what they want.
• Talk to someone you trust, and report the bullying or crime to the Internet Service Provider if it’s happened online.  You can let your mobile phone provider know if the abuse is coming via texts or to your phone number.
• Block instant messages and emails.
• For serious eCrime, theft, or serious emotional or physical abuse or threats, report it to the police.  They have a specialist eCrime department that can help and they will take you seriously.

How we can help

However you are feeling or whenever the cyber crimes took place, you can talk to someone from Victim Support in complete confidence.

We can help, whether or not you have reported the incident to police. Most people want to talk to someone about what has happened and how they are feeling. Friends and family can be very helpful, but our volunteers are specially trained to listen and understand. We can also give useful information to help you deal with some of the problems the crime has caused. And we can offer practical help too.

The Police also have crime prevention information on the Isle of Man Constabulary Website with advice on how to protect yourself against such crimes as internet/post scams and identity theft.