February 1994 Fraud Terminology Topics
Distractors, Dithering, Fluttered,
Link Network Diagram, Twisting, Pingponging,
The Whole Nine Yards, Filthy Lucre,
Get the Third Degree, CHRI, Biometric Identification,
and Mushroom
 

Clinics have used an illegal pingponging scheme
to claim higher reimbursements
from medical insurance plans.
 

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

 

Link Network Diagram
A diagram that shows the relationships between persons, organizations, or events in an investigation. A simple link network diagram can be a useful exhibit in court. Solid lines often depict confirmed connections or ties. Dotted lines may depict suspected relationships.
Image: www.i2inc.com, July 29, 2006.

 

Dithering
An algorithmic method that is used to alter or increase the color resolution of graphic images, especially for photographs. Dithering may combine several different colored dots, or pixels, to create a new color. Dithering often is used to control multiple shades of gray that are produced by a printer or displayed on a computer screen. Dithering may be used by counterfeiters or questioned document examiners.

 

Distractors
Several plausible but incorrect answers for a multiple choice question on a test such as the Uniform CFE Examination.

 

Biometric Identification
New technology which measures a unique and unchanging physiological or behavioral characteristic for the purposes of personal identification. Examples include live scanning of fingerprints, DNA tissue typing, retinal scanning (eye prints), voice prints, and signature dynamics.
Photo:  U.S. Marines photo.

 

Fluttered
Subjected to a lie detector test or polygraph.

 

Whole Nine Yards
A full investigation or detailed audit. The entire distance. The whole thing. There are two familiar origins for the phrase. A large cement mixer holds nine yards of cement and a big construction job would use up the whole nine yards. On a three masted ship, each mast carried three yards, or spars, that supported the sails. The whole nine yards would indicate that the sails were fully set.

 

Filthy Lucre
Money acquired by dishonorable means.

 

Pingponging
A scheme which refers patients to other doctors in a clinic in order to claim Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements for a “consultation” instead of for genuine treatment or observation of the patients.




 

Get the Third Degree
To be subjected to intensive questioning and/or rough treatment. Sometimes the term refers to the brutal tactics used by police or other authorities to make a person tell the truth, to confess, or to reveal secrets.

 

CHRI
A system of records which includes individual identifiers and describes an individual adult’s arrests and their subsequent dispositions. Criminal History Record Information does not include intelligence data, investigative data, or sociological data such as drug use history. Access to criminal history records for noncriminal justice purposes varies with each state’s laws concerning disclosure.

Image: www.lesdirect.com, July 28, 2006.

 

Twisting
An illegal sales practice in which an insurance broker persuades customers to cancel their policies with their current insurance provider and purchase new policies from another insurance provider. The broker’s pitch may include misrepresentation, misstatements of fact, or an incomplete comparison of policy premiums or benefits.

 

Mushroom
A market trader who appears only occasionally or spasmodically. Regular merchants tend to view a mushroom with suspicion. A mushroom might be a fly-by-night operation.

 

Larry C. Adams, CFE, CPA, CIA, CISA, teaches fraud examination at the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Arizona. He publishes the book and online editions of “Fraud In Other Words.” His Web site is www.larry-adams.com. His e-mail address is fraudwritr@aol.com.

 

ã Copyright 1994 Larry C. Adams. All rights reserved.
“Fraud In Other Words” is a trademark of Larry C. Adams.
 

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