Cyber crooks preying on ill and disabled people

UCLan lecturer Jessica Marshall has been a victim of attempted Mate crime.

Cyber criminals are using support groups on the internet to try to exploit and defraud people with genuine health conditions by offering '˜miracle cures'. AASMA DAY finds out more about this cruel crime.

Cyber criminals are using the internet to home in on such vulnerable individuals or those with health conditions to take advantage of them in some way.

Mate crime is the befriending or targeting of vulnerable people such as the disabled, those with learning difficulties or mental health conditions with the aim of exploiting them.

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Dr Tim Owen is the universitys director of the CyberCrime Research Unit

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Dr Tim Owen, director of the University of Central Lancashire’s Cybercrime Research Unit, says: “Often, the disabled are seen as more vulnerable and lonely.

“Some of them don’t have the capacity to work and may be stuck in the house all day which gives cyber criminals more capacity to target them.

“These people are stereotypically targeted for companionship and the fraudster builds up their trust before exploiting them.

“There are social networking sites specifically for people with disabilities or aimed at people with certain health conditions and some fraudsters join these sites and pretend to be part of that community.

“The victims can be targeted for different kinds of cyber crime such as fraud, identity theft, grooming and sexual perversion.”

Some conmen prey on people with rare conditions or those who are desperately searching for a cure for their illness.

These people are offered “miracle cures” in the form of tablets, creams and patches.

One person who knows only too well about these kind of tactics is Jessica Marshall, senior lecturer in social science and course leader for public services at the University of Central Lancashire.

Jessica has a rare condition, trigeminal neuralgia, which results in sudden severe facial pain which she was diagnosed with about a year ago.

She explains: “It is an excruciatingly painful condition for those that live with it. For me, on a day-to-day basis, it means pain in my lower mouth, jaw and right cheek.

“Then when I have a severe attack, it is like electrical twinges which feel like a lightning bolt going off in my head.