Who exactly is involved in Internet crime? The popular media seem to have settled on two very different profiles. The first is the Russian mob that has enlisted physicists, displaced from Cold War era government programs, to help them with their plans. The second is the American teenage boy nerd, seated in the dark isolation of his bedroom, working on the next great computer virus. Neither of these is really representative, although both contain substantial elements of truth. The fact is that the opportunities for this kind of fraud are so broad that someone can find a niche regardless of their technical background.
The advance fee scam, the so-called Nigerian 419 scam , requires nothing more than a good cover story, a list of email addresses, and the gall to carry it out. Creating a computer virus, or operating a professional spam distribution network, requires significant technical expertise. Some scams are so complex that multiple individuals must be involved. For an interesting perspective on a few individuals from the world of spam, I refer you to the book Spam Kings by Brian S. McWilliams (O’Reilly). In it, he describes how two well-known spammers got involved in the trade and how techniques like those described here were used to reveal them.
One thing common to everyone involved in Internet fraud is the desire to remain anonymous and thereby safe from prosecution. The bad guys go to great lengths to hang a curtain of disguise behind which they can operate. The forensic skills that you will learn from this book will help you pull back that curtain.
Just like traditional criminal forensics, you will use your skills to find the clues left behind at a crime scene. The only difference being that our crime scene takes the form of a web site, server, or email message. You are unlikely to uncover the name and address of the culprit, but you will be able to build up a picture of their operation, which can contain a surprising amount of detail.