When people hear about the availability of law enforcement training online, the most common reaction is one of shock and disbelief. In our minds, law enforcement is synonymous with police, and thus with firearms. And of course, learning how to properly care for and use a weapon is not something that can be taught online, even with all the visual aids available nowadays. But law enforcement does not always mean patrolling the streets or catching criminals. There are many different kinds of crime, and the methods of combating of some of those crimes can be taught through books. Or, in this case, through the Internet.

The term “computer crime” refers to a crime where a computer is considered the tool, target or place where the crime is committed. When a computer crime occurs, the case is not handed to patrolmen or detectives, but instead to members who are trained to respond and stop the offenders in situations like these. It is not uncommon for these professionals to have undergone law enforcement training online. After all, what better way to stop a hacker than to learn how he operates?

Training for this branch of law enforcement requires not only intricate knowledge of computer systems and how to use them, but also some practice with programming languages. The fastest way to learn something is to find your way up against it, and that is exactly what happens. Teachers put their students to the test and an online battle is fought during classes: who can hack faster than the other? It is difficult, stressful, and it can not be taught out of books.

Of course, computer crime is not concerned with hackers alone. The branch includes fraud, theft, blackmail, forgery and embezzlement and many more, as long as a computer is used at some time during the crime. Police departments often work hand in hand on cases such as the ones mentioned above; the division concerned with cyber crimes will focus on tracking them down through the computer, while others will look for answers in the real world.

Cases are solved faster this way, and the mistakes made during the process are less. In the end though, it doesn’t really matter if you got your basic education on law enforcement from your local training school or from law enforcement training online; your performance will be what distinguishes you as an officer of the law.

I am often amazed at the number of spam e-mails that I see in my inbox everyday. Though most of it is harmless a lot of it can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re looking for. The other day my husband told me a friend of his was a victim of computer crime. He was looking for a quick loan of $5,000 and he ended up with an empty bank account. This happens to a lot of people, and it’s not because they’re stupid, it’s mostly because they need money and it seems that someone is offering it to them for little or nothing.

Though some computer crime comes in the form of embezzlement most of it comes in your e-mail box. You may get an offer for a payday loan or you may have been informed that she won the lottery. My husband’s friend found an e-mail in his inbox telling him he could get a $5,000 loan within a matter of days. Because he needed money badly he clicked on the link and apply for the loan. What he didn’t know was that he was about to be the victim of computer crime.

This type of computer crime is very common. When the company contacted him they told him that he had to give them close to $900 in order to secure the loan. When he didn’t hear back from them, he called their phone number and spoke to a woman who said he needed to send even more money. This is very common with computer crime. If they think you are not wise to their scheme they will try to get even more money out of you. When the money still didn’t come through my husband’s friend called again. This time the phone was disconnected and the company, along with his money, was long gone.

There are also other types of computer crime you have to be aware of what you are surfing the net. If you get an e-mail that says you have won a lottery delete it immediately. If you get an e-mail that says you must enter your password for Paypal, or one that asks you to enter your information at your banking web site, you must also delete the e-mail. These are both common computer crime frauds that try to get your information so they may clean out your bank account or use your identity to get credit. Remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true it probably is.