Week Nine

As much as there are many benefits to the vast world of the internet, there are bound to be its cons as well. And one of the major concerns about the Internet today is its security. The topic of internet security addresses computer viruses to cyber crimes. As the internet allows exchanging of information so easily and quickly, some channels might represent an insecure medium, leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing. 

Singapore has its fair share of cyber crimes too, straits times has recently reported that despite the overall decrease in crime rate in Singapore, there has been a surge in the cyber crime category. 

Listed here are the key points on the trend of the cyber crimes in Singapore: 

• The number of cases doubled from 238 cases in 2012 to 509 cases in 2013.
• In particular, there was a surge in the number of cases involving multiple payment online purchase scams. The number of such scams shot up to 231 cases last year from 14 cases the year before. 

Rise may due to the increase usage of mobile devices and the casual attitude towards mobile security.

So, What is a multiple payment scam? 

"The multiple payment scam involves culprits posing as sellers of smartphones or tablets who would cheat victims by failing to deliver goods but then ask for further payments on the pretext of having delivery orders. The victims typically agree to the further payments, but end up not receiving the item." 

Despite knowing the risk, many Singaporeans still get scammed by cybercrimes. I know of many friends who get cheated by blogshop owners or sellers from the app 'Carousell'. 

Carousell, unlike the regular established blogshops, allows ANYONE to sell ANYTHING. 

As such, many people often face difficulties in transactions and sometimes even get cheated. 

Just google 'Cheated in Carousell', you can see many locals complaining and sharing their bad experience of online scams. 

This one blog caught my attention, as it pin-points to Singapore online-shopping, do take a look: http://fionaseah.com/2014/08/29/dealing-with-a-scammer-on-carousell/

It is our responsibility to do background checks prior to purchasing and also if we ever get scammed, we should not give up and continue to pursue the matter. Be it reporting to the platform's administrator, i.e. for this case, Carousell, or reporting to the police.