Oz authorities forced to take 'stronger action' to counter burgeoning cyber crime

Canberra, Nov 3 (ANI): The Fraud Squad of the New South Wales Police Force has been re-launched as the Fraud and Cybercrime Squad, in a bid to tackle exponentially increasing cyber crime in Australia in a more effective manner.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher said the rebadged squad would target sophisticated new tactics being used to dupe unsuspecting Australians.

"It's not as simplistic as one would be led to believe in terms of (credit card) skimming," the Herald Sun quoted Gallacher, as saying.

Detective Superintendent Col Dyson, who will head the new squad, pointed out that cyber crime rate has increased rapidly, and said anyone who spends money over the Internet is a target.

"It's a virtual criminal playground," the paper quoted Dyson, as saying.

"Similarly to the way police patrol streets, we'll be patrolling the internet," he added.

He said a 2005 report from the Australian Institute of Criminology estimated that fraud made up 40 per cent of the cost of all crime, adding that Australians are particularly susceptible to fraud.

"Psychologists do tell us Australians, by their nature, tend to have a punt," Dyson said.

"We tend to be a little bit naive. We have this 'she'll be right, mate' attitude. We tend to have a nature where we would rather not take the risk of confronting someone and then be wrong," he added. (ANI)