Generally, fraud is what we call a false representation of a matter of fact which is intended to deceive another or an intentional deception which leads to injury in another innocent party.

Internet fraud is popularly known as internet scams. Internet fraud is a cyber crime or fraud which uses the internet to defraud people or hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of taking advantage of people.

Most times internet fraud are caused by peer pressure, unemployment, poverty, poor parental upbringing and so on. Examples or should I say the types of internet fraud are;

Email phishing scams(These emails are designed to look like they came from an official source), lottery fee scam, The Nigerian prince ( section 419 of the criminal code of Nigeria bans this type of fraud. It was however named after it), etc.

Internet fraud has become so serious that almost everyone has been a victim of this fraud, so therefore they should be ways in which this act can be curbed in order to prevent this act from escalating . Some are;

*There should be a public enlightenment or awareness for people in order for them to be aware about how it happens and how they should avoid falling into these fraudsters hands.

* People who have fallen victims should report to the appropriate authority so that they can seek remedy or redress. Authorities like internet crime complaint center (IC3).

* Fraudster caught should be adequately punished either through imprisonment, fine or both so that others can learn from this and stop this this act.

* There should be an appropriate law or act prohibiting it like section 419 of the criminal code, the penal code and so on.

There are many other ways in which this act can be curbed and for this to be done, the change should start from our individual self by controlling out lust after money and we should also seek advice from others before going ahead with anything from these fraudsters.

Busari Oluwademilade Eunice is a 300 Law students at Lead City University,Ibadan