What do you do if you find something illegal online?

[wikdfury]

Do you contact the local police or the FBI or is there a special office that deals with online activity?

Illegal activity online might include finding child porn, dealing of drugs, prostitution, etc.

 

[JoanMcWench]

Do I report illegal things I find online? No. However, I've never been in a position where I've discovered child pornography & hopefully never will be. If I were to stumble into that specifically? Absolutely. Otherwise, I leave the wild west wild.

 

[DancingLady]

I would call the local police non-emergency line and explain what I had stumbled upon and ask them what I should do. That way, especially if it was something like child pornography, they could be immediately alerted, someone could look at my computer and possibly be able to gain some information about the source and hopefully find clues that could lead to the rescue of the child if they have not yet been found.

For something like an obvious scam, it probably wouldn't be as big of an issue, they might just want you to send them the links and a detective would check it.

 

[IshieVonDyson]

I have a friend who works for a certain VPN provider. A lot of the time they encounter illegal activity online. In some cases I think they can report it to a non-emergency line. In others, though, it’s out of their jurisdiction and they can’t do anything, unless a government agency requests info through the court, otherwise the company would be breaking laws. Which gets pretty touchy when they run into cases like a high school teacher using the VPN to access child porn.

 

[lushlala]

Anything that involves the abuse and exploitation of children, I would definitely, in a heartbeat be in touch with law enforcement. Anything else I would probably seek legal counsel first and then take it from there. Luckily, touch wood, so far I've never stumbled across anything sinister!

 

[Rainman]

Should you stumble into something illegal online the police should be notified. Depending on the seriousness of whatever it is you found, the cops may work with other cops elsewhere [in the state, country, continent or world] to find the criminals. It [catching the criminals] may not be easy though since identity theft can make such people almost impossible to "catch."

 

[Gabe]

You can email the links or screenshots to the local police who will then pass them on to the relevant departments. The problem with websites some maybe be global and laws vary in different countries, so the hosting companies will be informed and used to investigate the owners of the site. That's the best way and to email the information to other agencies.

 

[dyanmarie25]

If I find something illegal over the internet, I think I would report it to the authority if the case is really serious. But if not, and it's just my instinct, I don't think I would contact the police. Probably, I would just anonymously send them a message/email regarding what I have found.

 

[missbishi]

Thankfully, I've never discovered anything disturbing online but I'd have no hesitation in reporting it if I did. In any case, I'd be really worried that there would be a record that I'd visited this page on my computer and wouldn't want to get into trouble. Anything like child porn or cyber bullying needs to be reported straightaway, I suppose it is our duty as responsible web users.

 

[bala]

Of course i will first take proofs of it,file up a document of sorts and approach the cyber crime/cops or whoever is pertinent to that crime.I sure wil lreport it,but i will ask my identity to be kept anonymous.I really don't like being publicized..u see

 

[tanker]

The problem is you might be the target of the police investigation. It is a problem and I don't know what can be done about it. There needs to be more sensible laws.