March 16, 2009, 12:31 PM — 'Founder of the web', Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has revealed he was the victim of online fraud after purchasing a gift online.
Berners-Lee, who's credited with developing the idea for the internet 20 years ago, told the Telegraph: "The worst thing that has happened to me was when I tried to buy a Christmas present from a company that looked like a bona fide company on the internet and then actually they were a completely fake company. I think I am yet to get the money back, but it wasn't a lot".
"The moment I called the 0800 number listed on the website, there was a very polite message saying this number is available if you would like to use it, so a little bit of due diligence on my part would have revealed it wasn't what it was set up to be."
Berners-Lee also urged law-enforcement agencies to tackle online crime.
"There have been many positive things about the web, but there are also some nasty things out there too. You can find out how to cure diseases, but you can also find out how to make bombs," he said.
"We need to tackle issues of enforcement instead, as the laws on fraud, for example, already exist but is hard to find and catch the people responsible."
