Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Future of Law and eTechnologies pp 11–44Cite as

“My Agent Will Not Let Me Talk to the General”: Software Agents as a Tool Against Internet Scams

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 1748 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter takes as its basis an attempted so-called romance scam to evaluate a common modern communications phenomenon: the difficulty in evaluating human interaction online. Without having access to the kind of well-established, largely subconscious physical signals that we use to assess a situation in the offline world, extra vigilance is needed. The option of avoiding online communications is becoming increasingly unrealistic in personal as well as professional situations. The chapter examines whether, in addition to experience, training or personal characteristics, technology can help to avoid risks of misuse of personal data, fraud, extortion and so on.

We argue that the elements that arose suspicions in a sceptical and above-average vigilant Internet user can be generalised and instrumentalised through software agents. This would allow such agents to assist the user and raise the red flags where appropriate, even when the user herself may not detect the danger. Such software agents can be made required companions on cyber journeys, becoming an integral part of communication networks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The description of trust is inspired by the concept of economic, social and cultural capital discussed by Bourdieu (1986), pp. 241–258. The authors do not attempt to define the concept of trust in this chapter.

  2. 2.

    The notion “agent” was first used in 1973, Hewitt et al. (1973), pp. 234–245. It is used, e.g., to predict the perception of consumers before the launch of new consumer goods. Gowda (2008), pp. 246–251.

  3. 3.

    Chawki et al. (2015), pp. 7–9, 20.

  4. 4.

    Examples related to Nigeria in Chawki et al. (2015), p. 143.

  5. 5.

    There are a number of websites (and Facebook pages) directed at helping detect scams, like http://askville.amazon.com/major-patterns-online-dating-scammer/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=58411519 and http://www.stop-scammers.com/. The problem with such sites is that people will often only consult them after they have already been scammed or possibly when things have gone so far that they are truly suspicious.

  6. 6.

    See, e.g., Moore (1984).

  7. 7.

    We are presuming the actions of a human scammer in this chapter. It is unfortunately now technologically possible to have artificial agents fake to be humans in social-media platforms.

  8. 8.

    Poullet and Dinant (2010), pp. 60–90.

  9. 9.

    Case of Peck v. The United Kingdom (2003) Application 00044647/98, judgement of 28 Jan. 2003, paragraph 57: “… include activities of a professional or business nature.”; Case of Niemietz v. Germany (1992) Application 72/1991/324/396, judgement of 16 Dec. 1992, especially paragraph 29; Case of Halford v. the United Kingdom (1997) Application 73/1996/692/884, judgement of 25 June 1997, paragraph 44: “… a zone of interaction of a person with others, even in a public context …. ”; Case of Rotaru v. Romania (2000) Application 28341/95, judgement of 4 May 2000, paragraph 43; Case of P.G. and J.H. v. The United Kingdom (2001) Application 44787/98, judgement of 25 Sep 2001.

  10. 10.

    As the ECtHR states, e.g., in Peck: The Court has already held that elements such as gender identification, name, sexual orientation and sexual life are important elements of the personal sphere protected by Article 8. The Article also protects a right to identity and personal development, and the right to establish and develop relationships with other human beings and the outside world and it may include activities of a professional or business nature. There is, therefore, a zone of interaction of a person with others, even in a public context, which may fall within the scope of ‘private life’.

  11. 11.

    Von Hannover v. Germany (2005) Application 59320/00, judgement of 24 June 2004.

  12. 12.

    Barendt (2010), pp. 11–31.

  13. 13.

    Robbers (2002), pp. 98–105, translated definition of the right to informational self-determination is available at https://www.datenschutz.de/privo/recht/grundlagen/ (accessed 9.07.2015).

  14. 14.

    See, e.g., Rull et al. (2014), pp. 73–94.

  15. 15.

    Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, Strasbourg, 28.I.1981, ETS No. 108, entry into force 1.X.1985 (hereinafter as Convention 108), available at http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/108.htm.

  16. 16.

    Edwards and Waelde (2000), p. 85.

  17. 17.

    Nyman-Metcalf (2014), pp. 21–35.

  18. 18.

    Gonzales Fuster et al. (2010), pp. 105–117.

  19. 19.

    Engel and Keller (2000), pp. 44–52.

  20. 20.

    Fraunhofer Fokus (2012), pp. 11–12.

  21. 21.

    Amended in 2013. http://www.oecd.org/sti/ieconomy/oecdguidelinesontheprotectionofprivacyandtransborderflowsofpersonaldata.htm.

  22. 22.

    Fraunhofer Fokus (2012), p. 12.

  23. 23.

    Nyman-Metcalf (2014), p. 27.

  24. 24.

    Case von Hannover v. Germany (2004).

  25. 25.

    Grimm (2009), pp. 11–22.

  26. 26.

    There is also a link between data theft through hacking or other means and the kind of situations we describe here as people who have their details stolen from various networks are likely to be the subject of scams, have their identities stolen to perpetrate scams and so on. Anandarajan et al. (2013), pp. 51–61.

  27. 27.

    See, e.g., Westin (1970), pp. 32–37. Four basic criteria necessary for the development of personhood are (1) providing an individual autonomy to control disclosing one’s self; (2) giving an individual opportunity for emotional release; (3) permitting an individual to conduct self-evaluation, engaging in moral and creative activities; (4) allowing an individual to share confidences and intimacies in the course of limited and protected communication.

  28. 28.

    Anandarajan et al. (2013), p. 52.

  29. 29.

    Ibid.

  30. 30.

    Rull et al. (2014), p. 85.

  31. 31.

    This is a branch of artificial intelligence and focuses on the construction and study of systems that learn from data. See, e.g., Pak et al. (2012), pp. 1059–1072.

  32. 32.

    Anandarajan et al. (2013), p. 53.

  33. 33.

    Long (2013).

  34. 34.

    Huang et al. (2008).

  35. 35.

    Sterling and Taveter (2009).

  36. 36.

    Swapneel et al. (2010), pp. 461–472.

  37. 37.

    Isazadeh et al. (2014), pp. 7847–7857.

  38. 38.

    Alexander et al. (1977).

  39. 39.

    Gamma et al. (1994).

  40. 40.

    Hohpe and Woolf (2004).

  41. 41.

    Leymann et al. (2014).

  42. 42.

    JingMin et al. (2015), pp. 216–236.

  43. 43.

    Norta et al. (2006), pp. 834–843.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Whitty (2012).

  46. 46.

    Konte et al. (2009), pp. 219–228.

  47. 47.

    Domingo-Pascual et al. (2011).

  48. 48.

    McGuinness and Van Harmelen (2004).

  49. 49.

    Musen (2015), pp. 4–12.

  50. 50.

    Horrocks et al. (2012).

  51. 51.

    Buil-Aranda et al. (2013), pp. 277–293.

  52. 52.

    Sterling and Taveter (2009).

  53. 53.

    Casali et al. (2011), pp. 1468–1478.

  54. 54.

    Bose and Shin Kang (2013), pp. 1576–1589.

  55. 55.

    Paris et al. (2013).

  56. 56.

    The OWL ontology would be part of a metadatabase into which several sites can channel data so that BDI agents can work with that metadata.

  57. 57.

    A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., No. C99-05183 MHP, 2000 WL 573136 (W.D. Cal.); see also Smith (2003), p. 5. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512 et seq., was enacted in response to concerns of online service providers, creating narrow safe harbours for copyright liability. See Zimmerman (2004).

  58. 58.

    [1937] 1 KB 818.

  59. 59.

    (1991) Aust. Tort Reports 81-127 (NSW SC).

  60. 60.

    Godfrey v. Demon Internet Limited [1999] EWHC QB 244 (26th March, 1999) http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/1999/244.html.

  61. 61.

    John Bunt v. David Tilley [2006] EWHC 07 [QB] http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2006/407.html.

  62. 62.

    [2011] FCA 74. See http://www.liv.asn.au/Practice-Resources/Law-Institute-Journal/Archived-Issues/LIJ-August-2011/Beware-the-social-network.

References

  • Alexander C, Ishikawa S, Silverstein M (1977) A pattern language: towns, buildings, construction. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Anandarajan M, D’Ovidio R, Jenkins A (2013) Safeguarding consumers against identity-related fraud: examining data breach notification legislation through the lens of routine activities theory. Int Data Priv Law 3(1):51–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barendt E (2010) Privacy and freedom of speech. In: Kenyon AT, Richardson M (eds) New dimensions in privacy law. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 11–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Bose A, Shin Kang G (2013) Agent‐based modeling of malware dynamics in heterogeneous environments. Secur Commun Netw 6(12):1576–1589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu P (1986) The forms of capital. In: Richardson J (ed) Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. Greenwood, New York, pp 241–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Buil-Aranda C, Hogan A, Umbrich J, Vandenbussche P-Y (2013) SPARQL web-querying infrastructure: ready for action? The Semantic Web–ISWC 2013. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 277–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Casali A, Godo L, Sierra C (2011) A graded BDI agent model to represent and reason about preferences. Artif Intell 175(7–8):1468–1478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chawki M, Darwish A, Ayoub Khna M, Tyagi S (2015) Cybercrime, digital forensics and jurisdiction. Springer, Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Domingo-Pascual J, Shavitt Y, Uhlig S (2011) Traffic Monitoring and Analysis: Third International Workshop, TMA 2011, Vienna, Austria, April 27, 2011, Proceedings, vol 6613. Springer Science & Business Media

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards L, Waelde C (2000) Law and the Internet. Hart Publishing, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Engel C, Keller KH (2000) Governance of global networks in the light of differing local values. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraunhofer Fokus (Hoepner, P., Strick, L., Löhe, M.) Historical Analysis on European Data Protection Legislation. Report March 2012, pp 11–12. www.fokus.fraunhofer.de

  • Gamma E, Helm R, Johnson R, Vlissides J (1994) Design patterns: elements of reusable object-oriented software. Addison-Wesley, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales Fuster G, Gutwirth S, de Hert P (2010) From unsolicited communications to unsolicited adjustments. In: Gutwirth G, Poullet Y, de Hert P (eds) Data protection in a profiled world. Springer, Dordrecht/London, pp 105–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Gowda RS (2008) Role of software agents in E-commerce. Int J Comput Eng 3(3):246–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm D (2009) Freedom of speech in a globalized world. In: Hare I, Weinstein J (eds) Extreme speech and democracy. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 11–22

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt C et al (1973) A universal modular ACTOR formalism for artificial intelligence. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international joint conference on Artificial intelligence. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., Burlington, pp 234–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Hohpe G, Woolf B (2004) Enterprise integration patterns: designing, building, and deploying messaging solutions. Addison-Wesley, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Horrocks I, Motik B, Wang Z (2012) The HermiT OWL reasoned. OWL Reasoner Evaluation Workshop (ORE 2012). CEUR Workshop Proceedings, CEUR-WS.org

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang K-Z, Yang H, Lyu MR (2008) Machine learning modeling data locally and globally. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Isazadeh A, Pedrycz W, Mahan F (2014) ECA rule learning in dynamic environments. Expert Syst Appl 41(17):7847–7857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JingMin H, Gianluca S, Peng Y (2015) Quit playing games with my heart: understanding online dating scams. Detection of intrusions and malware, and vulnerability assessment. Lect Notes Comp Sci 9148:216–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konte M, Feamster N, Jung J (2009) Dynamics of online scam hosting infrastructure. Passive and active network measurement. Lect Notes Comp Sci 5448:219–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leymann C, Fehling F, Retter R, Schupeck W, Arbitter P (2014) Cloud computing patterns. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Long S (2013) Socioanalytic methods: discovering the hidden in organisations and social systems. Karnac Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuinness DL, Van Harmelen F (2004) OWL web ontology language overview. W3C recommendation 10, no. 10

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore B (1984) Privacy studies in social and cultural history. M. E. Sharp Inc., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Musen MA (2015) The protégé project: a look back and a look forward. AI Matters 1(4):4–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norta A, Hendrix M, Grefen P (2006) A pattern-knowledge base supported establishment of inter-organizational business processes. On the move to meaningful internet systems. OTM 2006 Workshops. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 834–843

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyman-Metcalf K (2014) The future of universality of rights. In: Kerikmäe T (ed) Protecting human rights in the EU. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 21–35

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pak R et al (2012) Decision support aids with anthropomorphic characteristics influence trust and performance in younger and older adults. Ergonomics 55(9):1059–1072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paris C, Swartout WR, Mann WC (eds) (2013) Natural language generation in artificial intelligence and computational linguistics, vol 119. Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin/Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Poullet Y, Dinant JM (2010) The internet and private life in Europe. In: Kenyon AT, Richardson M (eds) New dimensions in privacy law. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 60–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbers G (2002) Informationelle Selbstbestimmung und allgemeine Informationsfreiheit in Deutschland. Juridica VII:98–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Rull A, Täks E, Norta A (2014) Towards software-agent enhanced privacy protection. In: Kerikmäe T (ed) Regulating eTechnologies in the European Union. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 73–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith S (2003) From Napster to Kazaa: the battle over peer-to-peer filesharing goes international. Duke Law Technol Rev

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterling L, Taveter K (2009) The art of agent-oriented modeling. MIT Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Swapneel S, Nipun A, Christian M, Gail K (2010) weHelp: a reference architecture for social recommender systems. IEEE/ACM Int Conf Autom Softw Eng Workshops; Pt-160:461–472

    Google Scholar 

  • Westin A (1970) Privacy and freedom. The Bodley Head, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitty TM (2012) Anatomy of the online dating romance scam. University of Leicester, Leicester

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman EM (2004) P2P file sharing: direct and indirect copyright infringement. Florida Bar J

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 15a, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Alexander Norta & Anis Ben Othman

  2. Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 3, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Katrin Nyman-Metcalf & Addi Rull

Authors
  1. Alexander Norta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katrin Nyman-Metcalf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anis Ben Othman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Addi Rull
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Norta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tanel Kerikmäe

  2. Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Addi Rull

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Norta, A., Nyman-Metcalf, K., Othman, A.B., Rull, A. (2016). “My Agent Will Not Let Me Talk to the General”: Software Agents as a Tool Against Internet Scams. In: Kerikmäe, T., Rull, A. (eds) The Future of Law and eTechnologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26896-5_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26896-5_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26894-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26896-5

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation