March 2003 Topics
Cassandra warning, Easter egg,
gang screen, excess proceeds fraud, foreclosure profit fraud, hack, vinegar boy, and rainbow pantograph
 

This article is in the March/April 2003 issue of
The White Paper, the Journal of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
 

Fraud In Other Words: Professional Jargon and Uncensored Street Slang
By Larry C. Adams, CFE, CPA, CIA, CISA
 

Cassandra Warning
Today, a Cassandra warning is likely to be an unheeded prediction about national election fraud (Peru, Venezuela), massive computer failure (Y2K, NASDAQ), or corporate financial collapse (Enron, Lincoln Savings). A Cassandra is someone whose warnings of impending disaster are ignored. In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of Priam, the last king of Troy. Apollo promised her the gift of prophecy if she would grant his desires. She accepted Apollo’s gift but rebuffed the god, who took his revenge by ordaining that her prophecies should never be believed. She predicted the fall of Troy and the death of King Agamemnon of Mycenae, but her warnings were ignored. As part of the spoils of the Trojan War, Cassandra was given to Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek forces that attacked Troy, and later she was murdered with him. Modern doomsayers and whistleblowers sometimes become victims too - unfortunately.
Christine Stone, “The American Beat-Up on Peru and Venezuela”, AntiWar, May 26, 2000, http://www.balkanpeace.org/rs/archive/may00/
rs35.shtml, December 28, 2002. Photo by Maicar Förlag - GML. Cassandra bust by Max Klinger 1857 - 1920.
 

Easter Egg (Gang Screen)
Since the 1970s, computer programmers have hidden Easter eggs within the code of software applications they are writing. An egg is a harmless undocumented piece of the program, waiting to be found. It is well hidden, like a Trojan horse program, so the company will not delete it during quality testing of the product. Some eggs are merely a few extra lines of undisplayed text that might be noticed only by someone viewing the unencrypted source code. Most eggs are small and do not increase the memory requirements or slow the operation of the software. Other eggs are elaborate multi-media presentations with sounds and moving images that software end-users can stumble upon, only if they hit the right combination of keystrokes or mouse clicks. At first, Easter eggs were digital signatures from the development team (the whole gang). The eggs listed the names of all the programmers who actually wrote the program, but rarely got credit for their work. These pop-up screens often had humorous content, ranging from cartoons to exploding volcanoes. Many companies now use Easter eggs to protect their intellectual property rights from fraud. The eggs are used to bury special identification numbers, logos, or warnings. They are helpful in clearly identifying portions of code that have been copied by a competitor or embedded into a microprocessor chip without authorization. Easter eggs are hidden in operating systems, applications, Web browsers, games, and most popular software. Other types of Easter eggs are hidden in movies, music, art, books, and watches.
Michael Crichton, Prey, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2002, pages 10 – 11.
 

Excess Proceeds Fraud (Foreclosure Profit Fraud)
Claiming money left over from home foreclosures for clients who may have no right to the money. When a homeowner can’t make mortgage payments, the lender (usually a bank) decides to foreclose on the property. The lender takes over the property and puts it up for sale at a trustee sale or auction. After the sale, the lender takes the money it is owed, and deposits the remainder with the county treasurer as excess proceeds. Companies and lawyers watch the filings of excess proceeds and scramble to file claims. They find people who might have a claim on the money, such as second lien holders or contractors, and offer to get them the money for a fee. Claims must be filed as a lawsuit to get a court order directing the county treasurer to release the money. Fraudsters sign up the first party they can find in the string of ownership (often not the most recent owner). Their fee ranges from 5 percent to 40 percent of the money recovered. The fraudsters do not send out the required notices, which enables the fraudsters to get to the courthouse first and move through the legal process faster than any potential competing claim. When a party with a superior claim to the money eventually gets a court order to collect the money, the treasurer’s excess proceeds account is empty. In Arizona, one fraudster collected $2.5 million from questionable claims in a three-year period.
Mary Jo Pitzl, “Firm Scrutinized Over Foreclosure Profits”, The Arizona Republic, December 26, 2002, pages A1, A18, and A19.
 

Hack
To borrow something that you have no intention of paying back.
PseudoDictionary, http://www.pseudodictionary.com/
search.php?letter=h, December 29, 2002.
 

Rainbow Pantograph
A double security feature on a bank check. The check stock background is printed with graduated colors and intricate line patterns. It reveals prismatic color gaps and the word "void" if attempts are made to copy the check on a color copy machine or scanner.
"Check Fraud and How It Can Be Detected", http://www.printerm.com.fraud.htm, January 28, 2003. Pantograph image:  http://www.checkprint.com/securitypaper.htm.
 

Vinegar Boy
A forger or a passer of worthless checks. They leave a nasty taste in the victim’s mouth. This term originated during the Great Depression of 1929 – 1939.
Eric Partridge, Dictionary of the Underworld: British & American, Bonanza Books, New York, 1961, page 757.
 

ã Copyright 2002 Larry C. Adams. All rights reserved.

Read more samples - Magazine article archive
Order the book - Fraud In Other Words