PHISHING AND PHARMING AS FORMS OF IDENTITY THEFT AND IDENTITY ABUSE

Abstract

Identity theft in cyberspace can have significant consequences, considering the fact that most of the victims of cyber identity theft do not immediately recognize that something has been stolen from them. There are various ways cyber identity theft is carried out, the most common being phishing and pharming.

A small number of countries have passed criminal legislation that specifically regulates and sanction identity theft as a criminal offense, though most countries do treat identity theft as a form of illegal access to data, fraud, forgery, or copyright infringement, or as an act that precedes the commission of another criminal offense. Serbia falls into the second category. The current criminal legislation of Serbia does not specifically criminalize the act of identity theft using the Internet and social networks. If any form of identity theft occurs, the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to computer fraud, fraud, forgery and misuse of payment cards, unauthorized use of another's name and other special markings of goods or services shall apply.

In addition to defining the terms of identity theft and identity abuse and analysis of phishing and pharming as the most common phenomena of cyber identity theft, this paper also presents the current applicable legislation in Serbia, with critical review, as well as international measures of protection against such criminal behavior in cyber space.