If you think the world is not a safe place anymore and try to seek solace in the virtual world of the Internet, you will be disappointed to find out that it is not devoid of crime, debauchery, and exploitation. The world wide web is not a safe place with the increasing number of virtual criminals lurking and awaiting their victims to log on and fall prey to their malicious tactics. Types Internet crime refers to any criminal activity that happens online. There are various ways in which criminal minds can use the power of the Internet to abuse and cheat people. Here is a list of some of the most dangerous criminal activities: 1. Hacking: The process where someone attempts to exploit the security settings of a computer system is known as hacking. The hackers can hack into several websites or personal accounts and threaten their security. 2. Phishing: This is a process where the culprit poses as an official entity and tries to acquire important financial or personal details like credit card number, social security number, home address, or telephone number. 3. Internet extortion: Threatening emails exploiting people and blackmailing them to pay money or other favors is another identity theft. Child pornography, password trafficking, spamming, virtual stalking, fake auctions, and other internet scams are some of the threatening criminal activities that exist online. 4. Pornography: Abuse of children for the generation of pornographic content over the web is one of the most disgusting cyber crimes. Also, misusing personal photographs of people to generate forged pornographic content is a malicious activity. 5. Cyber-terrorism: When people try to break into national and international security systems to access confidential, top-secret information, it accounts to cyber terrorism. Reporting Such Crimes The Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a joint initiative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center, aims to serve as a medium to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints on crimes committed online. The Internet Crime Complaint Center also provides the cyber victims an easy-to-use reporting mechanism. Other organizations that could be of help are Department of Homeland Security's National Infrastructure Coordinating Center, U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, and National Association of Attorney General's Computer Crime Point of Contact List. Laws that Protect the Citizens Yes, there are several laws that safeguard the interests of users and impose severe penalties for cyber criminals. Here's a list of some important laws:

• The Counterfeit Access Device and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984
• The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
• The National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996
• The No-Electronic Theft Act of 1997
• The Communications Decency Act of 1996
• The Child Online Protection Act of 1998
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998
• The Patriot Act of 2001

Preventive Measures Safe and anonymous browsing is the key to stay away from cyber crime. One should avoid giving away personal details like credit card number, social security number, home address, telephone number, and account passwords to anyone on the web. Financial transactions should be carried out only when you are assured about the credibility of the website. Online shopping from suspicious websites should be avoided.