Online blackmail main cyber crime

Cyber crimes constituted 1 percent of all crimes registered in the Eastern Province, according to a police official.
“Online blackmail accounts for 79 percent of cyber crimes, possession or storage of pornography is at 7 percent and illegal transfers of money at 6 percent,” spokesman of Eastern Province Police Lt. Col. Ziyad Al-Ruqaity said in a statement to the Alsharq daily on Friday.
Experts in the police’s cyber cell uncover many crimes, not just identifying criminals and bringing them to justice, Al-Ruqaity added.
Al-Ruqaity said crimes such as credit card fraud and hacking websites and emails with the aim of stealing money or for some other criminal purposes were also discovered in the course of investigations. The crimes also included sending pornographic material, threatening email messages, and illegal money transfers. He said most of the criminals used false or borrowed IDs to conceal their real identity from their victims or police.
However, the official attributed cause for the increase in the number of cyber crimes to technological advancement that could be exploited for illegal purposes. “The King Abdulaziz City for Information Technology, the Communications &
Information Technology Commission, Saudi Telecom Co. and Internet service providers have been coordinating to track down the criminals,” said legal consultant and lawyer Abdul Aziz Al-Zamil.
Saudi Arabia has a developed system in place to track down cyber crimes, which are on the increase.
In March the Shoura Council approved the Arab Convention to combat information technology crimes. Council’s Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Ghamdi said the convention is part of the Arab League's efforts to fight cyber crimes in order to contribute to peace and stability in the region.
It was reported last month that a criminal court in Jeddah sentenced an expatriate guard to a jail term and flogging for facilitating the viewing of porn sites by young Internet users for money. It was the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue & Prevention of Vice (Haia) who discovered the dubious Internet service and arrested the man. According to the Cyber Crimes Watch online magazine, annual loss estimates range from billions to nearly $1 trillion internationally, and 25 percent of cyber crimes in the world remain unresolved.