Internet crimes in Pennsylvania carry serious prison sentences, hefty fines, and you may even end up on the sex offender registry. Our Pittsburgh criminal defense lawyers outline some of the most common types of cyber crime:
- Hacking into or intentionally obtaining access without authorization to a computer system or network
- Stealing, copying, damaging, or otherwise interfering with content, data or software without permission from the owner of that content, data, or software
- Maliciously infecting a computer system, script, data, or other components of the internet with a virus or malware;
- Engaging in cyberstalking (stalking someone on the Internet, i.e. your ex-partner)
- Gaining unauthorized access to a computer system or network to manipulate, steal, copy, damage, or otherwise interfere with confidential or critical data and information
- Fraud with malicious intent to defraud, steal, or vandalize
- Identity theft (pretending to be someone else or stealing someone else’s personal information to commit theft or fraud)
- Phishing (sending an email, direct message, text message or any other digital message to direct a victim to a fake website in order to steal their personal information, including but not limited to login information, passwords, PIN codes, credit card numbers, bank account info, etc.)
- Cyber terrorism
- Cyber espionage
- Internet harassment
- Organizing or participating in an online scam
- Communicating threats online with an intent to harm or intimidate
- Gambling
- Production, promotion or distribution of obscene materials
- Harboring obscene materials
- Production, promotion or distribution of child pornography
- Contributing to the delinquency of a minor and
- Engaging in sexual activity with a minor (or attempting to do so via the Internet).
Have You Been Charged With an Internet Crime?
As an ordinary user of the Internet, you may make innocent mistakes online that can lead to Internet crime charges without realizing that you are doing something illegal. Computers, smartphones, tablets, laptops can be complicated and confusing, which is why you may fall into a trap while navigating the dangerous waters of the Internet.
Unfortunately, prosecutors and law enforcement officers target naïve and innocent Internet users’ lapse in judgment, poor choices, and wrong decisions made on the Internet instead of focusing on catching the real bad guys online. These bad guys are the ones who lure all those naïve and innocent users into a trap. For this reason, if you have been accused of committing an Internet crime in Pennsylvania, get legal help from an experienced criminal defense attorney in Pittsburgh who knows this complex and confusing area of criminal law like the back of his hand.