SGC Recommends New Rules Against Online Scams

UK's SGC (Sentencing Guidelines Council) has issued certain recommendations to give additional guidance to judges who handle cases of Internet scams and order sentences for the perpetrators. The recommendations are for frauds like spamming, phishing, and vishing along with the employment of Trojan horses.

The new SGC suggestions state that people who found guilty of owning tools to carry out online scams could face a sentence while more severe offenders could be brought under custody.

The council also promised to crack down those people who commit the well known "advance fee" scam that normally originates from Nigeria in Africa. As known, this type of scam involves victims who receive e-mail messages that direct them to wire processing fees to obtain a cash reward, or to assist someone trying to transfer money to a foreign country by remitting cash advances for a share in return.

Further, to prove that online scams are serious, Council Member, Sir Christopher Pitchford, said that such frauds are not without victims. The crimes do not only target financial institutions, as individuals are also affected who may lose their life savings or businesses, as reported by PRESS ASSOCIATION on February 25, 2009. Moreover, these scams are carried out to finance organized crime as well, Pitchford added.

Meanwhile, according to CIFACS (Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System), a service that prevents fraud in the UK, scams and fraud in the country increased 16% in 2008, with the number of incidences identified at 214,342 for the whole year. The reason attributed to this rise relates to more Brits, who hit with recession, have taken to crime for survival.

The rise is also because of a huge 207% increase in frauds that compromise facilities, in which an unauthorized party gains access to someone's account via telephone scams, interception of payment cards and financial statements or phishing. In 2008, the total number of consumer accounts compromised increased to 19,275 from 6,272 in 2007. This increases the importance of the council's recommendations.

Notably, the council recommends that sentences for online frauds should cover 2-7 years of custody for high-tech scams.

Related article: SEC Imposes Trading Ban on 35 Companies

» SPAMfighter News - 3/9/2009