In addition to raiding private web pages, criminals may open their own sites to defraud customers or sell forbidden goods and services, such as weapons, drugs, unprescribed or unregulated medicines and pornography. CyberCop Holding Cell, an online complaint service, recently warned about a classified auto ad service on the Internet. Several customers cars advertised on the web page failed to sell during this period, but they could then find no one from the ad service to give them a refund, CyberCop reported. As cybercrime has mounted, many nations have passed laws outlawing new phenomena, such as hacking. Or they have upgraded old legislation to make traditional crimes, including fraud, vandalism or sabotage, illegal in the virtual world.
Some nations have specialized groups to track down cyber-criminals.
One of the oldest is the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which was set up in 1978. Another is the Australian Internet Investigators, made up of law enforcers and individuals with advanced computer skills. The Australian group gathers evidence and passes this to appropriate law enforcement agencies in the state where the crime originated. Despite these and other efforts, law enforcers still face several cyber problems. Key among them is that these offences can easily cross borders, making investigating, prosecuting and punishing offenders a jurisdictional and legal headache.