Cybercrime

Dunedin police are helping Interpol investigate an international scam which has duped Otago people.

Although the first definition of cybercrime was developed in 1979, the dominance of digital technology now is such that an independent criminal court or tribunal for cyberspace "is urgently needed".

The face of cybercrime is changing as criminals target social networking sites and mobile devices, and a new report says New Zealanders are vulnerable.

An Oamaru man yesterday was trying to rectify a scam email sent out to people in his address book appealing for them to send money to him in Spain.

New Zealand has jumped up global economic crime rankings for reported frauds but it appears businesses are not taking the threat of cybercrime seriously.

The online interest in Osama bin Laden's death has attracted numerous internet scammers who are baiting Facebook and Google users by claiming to offer pictures of a deceased bin Laden.

A Dunedin person was among South Islanders encouraged by a cold-calling international scammer to log on to a website then used to remotely control their computers.

It takes special skills and a certain amount of inside knowledge to crack the secret world of traders in child pornography, Chris Barton, of the NZ Herald, reports.