Is there a difference in the nature of financial crime in the developed economies and the emerging ones?
Financial crime is financial crime, whichever way it is examined and from whatever source. It is a global problem with criminals, many of whom are members of organised crime groups, operating from emerging economies attacking established ones and vice-versa. One current and insidious problem is “phishing.” This scheme operating through the Internet deceives people into divulging bank details by email, telephone; or spam email viruses, which access sensitive information on your computer. Another method is raiding trash bins for card receipts and discarded bills; intercepting mail, and “skimming” credit or debit card details in point of sale or telephone sales frauds. It is not uncommon for a fraudster to set up a sales telephone number and have that forwarded on to ring in another country, where the laws and standards of business ethics are not as regulated as the target’s country. 419 frauds originated in Nigeria in the 1970s and are now perpetuated through email. The sender requests h
