According to a recent report in USA Today, all it takes is about $300.00, some basic computer skills and the stomach to commit crime and you can amass a bunch of data that you could probably sell to other criminals, make your initial investment back and lots more – all from your home.

Can you see the flyer stapled to an intersection sign: “Make Money at Home in Your Spare Time – Steal Data From Your Friends, Family and Neighbors.”

Older versions of the powerful and simple-to-use ZeuS hacking tool are available for free on criminal forums.  ZeuS is best known as the widely popular Trojan.  Current versions of ZeuS sell for up to $10,000, and are used by elite cyber gangs to wire funds from of the online banking accounts of small- and medium-sized businesses.

But older, free versions of ZeuS work just fine for turning an infected PC into a bot and harvesting all the PC’s account logons that are stored in Web browser cookies.  For about $25.00 you can hire a spamming specialist to send out email lures to at least 250,000 people enticing them to click on a corrupted Web link that will infect their PCs with your free copy of ZeuS.

Spend a little more, and you can customize your viral spam to spread via Facebook messages and Twitter. The only other thing you need to do is spend about $300.00 to rent an Internet-connected server to collect and store the stolen account logons.

It’s sort of the new pick-pocket, or shop-lifter.  Especially in tough times, people are looking for ways to make some money.  And, if there is little startup cost, and you are desperate, this may be the new thing.

Think of it this way, you can go to a mall during the day and walk into stores wearing your old clothes, leave in new clothes, eat food in aisles of other stores and then go home and hack into data opportunities and leave others penniless.