While American judges struggle with finding proper sentences for cybercriminals, Turkish judges don’t appear to be having the doubts that American judges in some instances do.  In the United States, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) provides for a maximum sentence of ten years for a first offender and 20 years for repeat offenders, however there are a number of factors that judges are required to consider that could reduce the length of the sentence.  Recently Deniss Calovskis, who was involved in a major computer attack had his sentence set at the mere 21 months he had already served prior to his trial.  Meanwhile in Turkey, Onur Kopcak, who had already been serving 199 sentence for computer crimes which he had been convicted of in 2013, was sentenced to an additional 135 years in prison for hacking the credit card information of 11 people and selling the information to other criminals.

TIPS

One of the reasons for the proliferation of cybercrimes has been that the sentences for major cybercriminals have not been sufficiently harsh to serve as a disincentive to criminals from committing these crimes.  Obviously this is not the case in Turkey.  Other reasons for the dramatic increase in scams and cybercrimes in recent years include the ease with which they can be accomplished from anywhere in the world and the difficulty in apprehending the criminals.  Meanwhile, when it comes to protecting yourself from scams, cybercrimes and identity theft, the best place to look for a helping hand is at the end of your own arm and one of the best ways to do this is by following the basic steps regularly provided here on Scamicide.