FROM stalking to fraud, the range of crimes committed on the internet is an ever-increasing one. And in many cases victims are making themselves vulnerable by posting details of their lives online.

This week - Get Safe Online Week - the spotlight is on cyber criminals, and how we can protect ourselves against them.

Get Safe Online is a joint initiative between the Government, the National Crime Agency, and public and private sector supporters from areas of technology, communication, retail and finance to raise awareness of internet security and help individuals and smaller businesses use the internet safely.

West Yorkshire Police has set up a specialist team which has come online this autumn to fight cyber crime. Specially trained staff have been recruited to provide the force with cutting edge skills using the latest techniques.

The Cyber Crime Unit is funded by £250,000 from West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson, who described cyber crime as a "fast-emerging threat of increasing concern". It will operate until 2017 to enhance the force's ongoing work investigating cyber offences.

Crimes committed online include:

* Cyber bullying - texting, posting or emailing anything that deliberately offends someone - which is most common among teenagers, with at least one in five having been a victim.

* Child Sexual Exploitation, where someone takes advantage of a child sexually for their own benefit. Technology is used to make contact with children and young people with the intention of “grooming” them, trying to gain their trust initially by using a fake profile picture and fake personal details.

* Online fraud, which covers a variety of incidents, including online banking, auction websites, identity theft and online shopping.

* Harassment/stalking, which is done either as an extension of existing harassment/stalking activities, or based online. Unwanted persistent and frequent contact from another individual can cause severe distress.

Detective Superintendent Mark Ridley, heading the cyber crime unit, said the new team would "significantly bolster" the police's ability to investigate emerging cyber crime trends and to use the latest techniques and technology in investigating more traditional types of crime.

A police campaign called It's Personal places emphasis on how criminals target individuals via data such as email addresses, phone numbers or social network pages. They gather snippets of personal information people innocently put online, like their birthday, children's names, national insurance number and log-in details. That could all be all they need to defraud someone or steal their identity.

Detective Inspector Vanessa Smith, of the cyber crime unit, said a key part of It's Personal encourages people to think about what they make available online. "Simple things such as regularly changing passwords and not using passwords with personal details such as birthdays in can make a big difference," she said.

DI Smith issued the following advice to protect against fraudsters.

* Don’t publish your date of birth in your social media profile or highlight your birthday in posts or tweets. Your date of birth is useful information for a fraudster, hacker or identity thief.

* If you use names of pets, family members, a sports team or other ‘favourite’ things in your passwords or memorable words, and reveal your likes and dislikes online, you may be handing a criminal clues to your log-in details.

* Don’t reveal your passport number, driving licence number or other official details to anyone unless you’re sure that they are authentic, and that providing these details is necessary.

* Don’t get fooled into revealing your PINs or passwords in response to an email, social networking post, text or phone call, however convincing it may seem that the request is from your bank, the police or another real organisation.

* Don’t write down or store log-in details electronically or on paper, where there’s a chance they could be found.

* Never open an email attachment unless you’re 100per cent certain of who sent it, or what it is. It could contain a virus that steals your personal information. If in doubt, ask the person or organisation you believe could have sent it before opening anything.

* To report cyber crime to the police call 101 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. For information about how to protect against cybercrime visit westyorkshire.police.uk/blockthewebmonsters