Prevention

White collar crime has become a widespread dilemma. It has grown to be what seems like an unstoppable and never ending crime. So, how can we prevent any type of white collar crime occurring in our lives? Unfortunately there is no one way to prevent this type of crime from occurring because there are so many different types of white collar crime. Some of the most common white collar crimes that all of us can run into are ponzi schemes, cyber crime, or identity theft.

            According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, a ponzi scheme is “an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.” As an investor, you want to make sure that the money you are investing will have a good return. So, how can you prevent fraud as an investor? There are questions that you can ask yourself in order to be sure you are making the correct decision by investing. Before investing, you want to check if the seller is licensed, if the investment is registered, what is the risk and potential returns are if the investment is clear, and lastly who can I ask for help (U.S. Securities Exchange Commission)? If you can’t answer these questions, you most likely do not want to invest in that particular investment.

            Cyber-crimes can be hard to detect when comparing it to street crimes. It is hard to detect because cyber-criminals are becoming more educated. cyber-criminals are learning how to duplicate websites, such as your banking website, in order to collect personal information from people. These days, we all rely on technology and using the internet more often than before. Not to say the internet is not safe, but how can we protect ourselves from being scammed online? To better protect yourself and your computer, you should have preventative steps in order to secure your personal information. Make sure to turn on a pop-up blocker, which will prevent fraudulent e-mails or phishing e-mails from getting  into your e-mail account; have some type of anti-virus software on your computer to help scan for viruses or malware; be sure to use your firewall system that is located in your computer system itself, to prevent hackers; use encryption for important information because it can “eat” your information up if a hacker tries to steal it; if you are an online shopper be sure to only shop at sites that are secured with “https” to help prevent credit card fraud (eHow).

            Cyber-crimes is not the only growing crime. Another crime that is starting to become an issue around the world is identity theft. According to The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) there are little things that everyone can do in order to prevent identity theft from occurring to them. When we receive mail or even when we send mail, we don’t think that something could happen. Unfortunately, criminals do steal inbound and outbound mail in order to obtain your personal information. How can you be sure your mail is safe? Drop off any outbound mail at your local post office and make sure your mail is safe at the post office if you’re out of town. Another way you can protect your personal information is to shred your mail. As I mentioned earlier, if you are using the internet to do things, such as paying bills or shopping online, remember to check that the site you are using is secured. If it doesn't seem secured, don’t use that site. Other ways you can prevent your identity from being stolen is, keeping your personal information in a safe place. For instance, do not carry your social security number on you and do not give it out to others; keep your insurance card information in a safe spot and not in your car; and have your car registration in a safe place inside your home (NCPC, 2005). These are just some preventative steps that you can take to protect yourself.

Work Cited

Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Crime Prevention Council. (2005). Preventing identity theft: a guide for consumers. Retrieved from website: http://www.ncpc.org/cms-upload/prevent/files/IDtheftrev.pdf

eHow Contributor. (n.d.). How to prevent cybercrime. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_4967690_prevent-cyber-crime.html

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, (n.d.). Ponzi schemes – frequently asked questions. Retrieved from website: http://www.sec.gov/answers/ponzi.htm