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Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on June 28, 2000. All rights reserved.
Internet Fraud
While the FBI took most of the credit for nabbing the
New Jersey programmer who launched the destructive Melissa virus last
spring, behind-the-scenes detectives like Peter Wolf in the
New Jersey State Police High-Tech Crimes Unit were doing a lot of
the forensic work. In the end, AOL tipped them off. “We followed
the Internet protocol address trail and identified the guy ourselves
and called the FBI,” says Wolf.
Today’s law enforcement officials are becoming just as tech-savvy
as their 14-year-old hacker rivals, says Wolf, because the computer
is becoming a major weapon in violent and white collar crimes alike.
“The computer has been involved in every type of crime out there,”
says Wolf, who trained at the National White Collar Crimes Center
in West Virginia, the International Association of Computer Investigative
Specialists, and the High Tech Crimes Investigator’s Association.
“We’ve actually reopened a death investigation that turned out
to be a homicide based on things that we found in the computer.”
Wolf speaks on “Protecting Yourself from Fraud on the Internet,”
on Thursday, July 6, at 8 a.m. at the Edison Clarion for the Middlesex
Chamber. Call 732-821-1700. Cost: $30.
Wolf, 41, spent a year in college before joining the New Jersey State
Police as an investigator in undercover narcotics, white collar, and
organized crime in 1977. Today, Wolf, a resident of Ocean County with
four children ranging in age from 9 to 18, has the kind of computer
skills that would make most network administrators and programmers
envious. Most of his technical secrets are applied to solving white
collar crimes, such as credit identity theft and sabotage, and breaking
up child exploitation rings, which he calls the “new wave”
in crime.
Sabotage and fraud over the Internet are a real threat for businesses,
says Wolf, because so many companies aren’t operating on a secure
network. Hackers can spot these sitting ducks right away. “I could
run a scan on certain IP addresses, find one that’s running Windows
95, and use a program to which Windows 95 is vulnerable and break
in,” says Wolf. “You have a lot of people who are stealing
Internet accounts with passwords and then using somebody else’s E-mail
account to make terroristic or harassing threats. Credit identity
theft is also a problem. There are programs that a 14-year-old kid
can download on the Internet that will generate a valid credit card
number.”
To avoid becoming the next high-tech victim, Wolf suggests the following
measures:
Have a good antivirus program. Make sure that you updatethe virus definitions when prompted.Pick a good password, one that uses alpha and numericfigures, and is at least eight characters long. There are programsthat will run through a dictionary to decode, says Wolf. “If youput in a numeric value, the dictionary-type crackers won’t work,”says Wolf. Don’t use your name, social security number, dog’s name,or any other password that could be guessed by “social engineering.”Hire a knowledgeable network administrator to set up afire wall. Constantly update software to correct vulnerabilities.High-tech crimes may be on the rise, but Wolf is optimisticabout law enforcement’s ability to stay on top of hackers and holdthem accountable. “I think people have a false sense of anonymityon the Internet,” he says. “A lot of people don’t think thatthey can be traced, but they can.”Top Of PageAccounting Fraud: NJCSPAEach year, businesses lose about six percent of theirrevenues to fraud and abuse, according to several certified fraudexaminers (CFEs) with the New Jersey Society of Certified ProfessionalAccountants. Fraud can take many forms, ranging from lifting fundsfrom petty cash and goods, inventory or telephone and cellular phoneabuse, to complex bookkeeping and accounting cover-ups to hide stolenmonies, as was the case a few weeks ago when a secretary in a MontgomeryKnoll dentist’s office was sentenced to jail for embezzling nearly$100,000 from her employer. Joseph T. Wells, a CFE, member ofthe NJSCPA, and author of “Occupational Fraud and Abuse” (1997,$99) estimates that the total cost of fraud and abuse to businessesin the country exceeds $400 billion annually.Small businesses can find such losses hard to recoup, so they shouldtake a number of measures to protect themselves against fraud. Perhapsthe easiest measure is establishing a system of checks and balancesfor each of a business’ financial functions, says Laurence G. Thoma,a CFE at Withum, Smith & Brown in Red Bank. “Don’t have the sameperson performing all financial functions,” he says. “A differentperson should handle the billing, collection, and deposits becausealterations can be made to the records at any time. Don’t give employeesan opportunity to commit fraud.”Send a clear message to employees that they will be held accountablefor their work and any abuses, says Henry Fuentes, a CPA inRamsey. “The single best way a small business can protect itselfagainst fraud is good internal control,” he says.Trust your gut instinct about a person, says Thoma, and ask job candidatesto give their permission for background checks. Employers can obtainpolice background checks for a nominal fee. “If there is a negativefeeling, follow it,” says Fuentes. “Seventy-five percent ofthe people who commit fraud will do it again.”Businesses looking for a forensic accountant can refer to the NJSCPA’s”Forensic and Litigation Services Directory,” available onlineat www.njscpa.org/forensic, or by calling 973-226-4494.Top Of PageBusiness Scams: FTCIf job advertisements that trumpet such claims as “beyour own boss,” “set your own hours,” and “earn moneyquickly” sound to good to be true, they probably are. The FederalTrade Commission has repeatedly found that business opportunitieslike these are often scams, taking consumers’ money up front but failingto deliver on their promises in the end.Still, if you can’t resist such enticing offers, the Federal TradeCommission suggests you at least do the following:Get all earnings claims in writing. If the promoter hesitatesor refuses to give the information in writing, find another businessopportunity.Interview references provided by the company promotingthe business opportunity. Talk to each, preferably where their businessoperates.Study the business’ franchise disclosure document. Itincludes information about the company, including whether it has facedany lawsuits from prior purchasers or lawsuits alleging fraud.Query the Attorney General’s office, state or county consumerprotection agency, and Better Business Bureau in the area in whichthe business opportunity promoter is based.Call the legal department of the company whose merchandiseis being promoted, if the business opportunity involves selling productsfrom well-known companies.Consult an attorney.For more information about business opportunities or to makea complaint about a business, call the FTC toll-free at 1-877-382-4357or visit www.ftc.gov.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
