http://www.cisc.gc.ca/AnnualReport2003/Cisc2003/technology2003.html
... snip ... As technologies for conducting on-line commercial transactions evolve, so do opportunities for fraud. Identity theft and payment card fraud are among the most frequently occurring types of fraud in Canada according to Phonebusters, a fraud reporting agency administered by the Ontario Provincial Police in cooperation with the RCMP. Identity theft provides opportunities for criminals and/or members of organized crime groups to assume a false identity and obtain funds illegally. The use of sophisticated peripherals such as laser printers, digital cameras, scanners, and desktop publishing software can also offer the opportunity to facilitate the production of false identities and counterfeit documents. Asian-based and Eastern European-based organized crime groups are reported to be extensively involved in large-scale elaborate payment card fraud schemes as well as other fraud-related criminal activity throughout the country. There are instances in which the modification and/or enhancement of existing technology may also allow criminals to facilitate fraud-related crimes. In March 2003, Ontario-based individuals with suspected ties to organized crime persuaded unsuspecting merchants into using modified point-of-sale machines. These machines, fitted with a "skimming" device, would sit for a period of time capturing payment card information until the device was retrieved by the criminals. In December 2002, several individuals were charged with debit card fraud and fraud over $5,000 after participating in an elaborate automated teller machine fraud scheme orchestrated by members of an Eastern European-based organized crime group. This scheme, which stretched across the country, had an attributed loss of over $1.2 million. Electronic mail is also used to facilitate schemes such as stock market manipulation, frequently referred to as pump and dump or slump and dump schemes,(superscript: 2) telemarketing schemes, as well as proliferating malicious code programs such as the SLAMMER(superscript: 3) worm in January 2003. ... snip ... -- Internet trivia, 20th anv: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/rfcietff.htm
