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Bellizia Law Office
395 Franklin Street
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Tel: 973-202-6160
Fax: 973-743-2290
info@prosperlawoffice.com
Internet fraud refers to any type of fraudulent use of a computer and the Internet, including the use of chat rooms, email, message boards, discussion groups and web sites, to conduct fraudulent transactions, transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions, or to steal, destroy or otherwise render unusable (the proliferation of viruses for example) computer data vital to the operation of a business.
Online auction and retail schemes, business opportunity/"work-at-home" schemes, investment schemes and market manipulation schemes are just a few of the current known cybercrime abuses. Auction and retail schemes sometimes offer luxury merchandise, from expensive watches to high-end computers to collectible items. These schemes encourage people to send money, but either the goods are never delivered or the item is far less valuable that what the purchaser thought he was buying. Business opportunity and "work-at-home" schemes promise that individuals will earn thousands of dollars but require upfront fees ranging from $35 to hundreds of dollars. Often people never receive anything in return, or find that the materials are not what the seller warranted.
Examples of online fraud schemes, gathered by the Department Justice:
Oxford, Mississippi: August 1998, a woman was sentenced in the Northern District of Mississippi to 15 months' imprisonment and $9,432 restitution on fraud charges. The scheme involved her use of Web pages and interactive computer locations on the Internet for falsely advertising various hardware, software and computer accessories.
Philadelphia: March 2000, three men were criminally charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for their alleged roles in falsely offering the sale of Beanie Babies® on the Internet, and then failing to deliver the orders or sending stolen Beanie Babies® that generally were of substantially less value than the items ordered.
San Diego: March 2000, a man pleaded guilty in the Southern District of California to mail and wire fraud in connection with his conduct in a fraudulent scheme involving Internet sales of Beanie Babies® that he never delivered.
Santa Ana, California: November 1999, a man was sentenced in the Central District of California on mail and credit-card fraud charges to 14 months' imprisonment and $36,000 restitution for his conduct through an Internet auction fraud that falsely offered digital cameras and laptop computers.
Internet fraud examples provided by the Department of Justice include:
Los Angeles: February 2000, a man was sentenced to 87 months' imprisonment for his role in a scheme that purported to provide immigration assistance to aliens seeking to become U.S. residents or citizens. Using web sites, newspaper advertisements, recruiters and word of mouth to offer their services to aliens, the leaders of the scheme typically charged more than $10,000 per client and promised that the client would receive particular immigration documents. In some cases, however, the leaders of the scheme provided their clients with counterfeit or false immigration documents. IIn other cases, they provided no documents at all, and blamed the government and the legal system for the delay in providing the promised documents.
Los Angeles: November 1999, four men were criminally charged in the Central District of California for their alleged roles in conducting a "work-at-home" scheme promoted over the Internet.
A person violating this section shall be guilty of computer data forgery, a felony.
It takes an attorney with the confidence and experience of a former prosecutor to properly deal with authorities when it comes to defending you against these crimes. If you have been accused or charged with such a crime, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Bellizia immediately. Criminal matters are not problems that will go away when ignored. Early intervention in criminal matters, may achieve outstanding results, and will be instrumental to the outcome of your case.
When you call us, you will get an immediate response. Mr. Bellizia and his staff are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, holidays and weekends included. Please do not hesitate to call us now to arrange a free consultation.