Books about true crime, with garish covers and taglines such as “shocking stories of scamming, stalking, murder, and mayhem” may be the kind of books that you would have expected to find in any supermarket or bookstore in the past 50 years or so. The difference here is that this book showcases crimes which have originated online but have crossed-over to the real world in some truly nasty ways. It is also intended to post stark warnings about what can be in store if we do not take better care to protect our online environment.
This collection of true life crimes has been assembled by Jayne Hitchcock who is an expert on the frightening world of cybercrime having worked voluntarily for community and law enforcement groups, and served on the editorial board the International Journal of Cyber Crimes and Criminal Justice. The collection has been carefully selected to show the seemingly endless varieties of online crime: cyber bullying, stalking, phishing, identity theft and crimes which originate in the virtual world but end up in murder. In each case, the crime is thoroughly detailed and researched with meticulous attention to how online failings facilitated the success (or otherwise) of the crime and the steps law enforcement agencies took to discover the criminals. There are some truly heart-breaking stories here and others where, from a distance, you can say that the crime should have been obvious if only a little more emotional detachment and common-sense were applied. However, the lessons the stories show are such that we are all vulnerable and that we should take more care to protect our online presence. The stories are, in a sense, object lessons in how not to fall victim to online criminals. Once read and digested it is fairly clear how a crime took place and what can be done to avert it. Still, I would have liked to have seen more editorial input and maybe a summary chapter on online security and organisations to contact for further help.
This is a well-researched book with its heart in the right place. It may well find an audience amongst concerned parents, teachers in education, criminology departments and the general public.
